Children of a Lesser God
by Go to my Real Account with Ter
Summary: COMPLETE. AU. After the failure with Robin and before his attempt on Terra, Slade had his eyes set on another option. One that, like the one before him, will want absolutely nothing to do with the mercenary… Full summary inside for lack of space.
1. Prologue: The First Meeting

**Children of a Lesser God**

Formally known as,

**Slade's New Apprentice**

_By Prisionero._

_Summary: (AU-Alternate Universe.) __After the failure with Robin and before his attempt on Terra, Slade had his eyes set on another option. One that, like all the others before and after him, will want absolutely nothing to do with the mercenary… But Slade Wilson has his ways, and the child chosen will have to get out of it with the Titan's help… Or with them against him as well. Welcome to his story. We'll see how it develops. After all, The Titans are heroes; they should be able to save the day... Right?_

_Rating: M_

_Time period: 2001. Roughly two weeks after the events on 'The Apprentice' parts 1 & 2._

_Update schedule: Mondays and Thursdays at __5:00 pm__4:00__ central at the latest._

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, nor am I making a profit with them. However, the plot and characters you have never seen before are of my property._

**_IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE: _**_As__ all of you will notice, this chapters is extremely vague. I'm aware of that, because I wrote it with that intention. Don't be fooled by it, THIS WAS A ONE TIME THING. I wanted to give the feeling of mystery to the prologue, but it backfired on me, turning off readers. I would change it, but I rather leave it like that as a reminder of my mistakes. I just ask for you to not judge this fic after reading this chapter, read the next one. If you still don't find it entertaining, then you have seen what I can do and have not been satisfied; you can forget my existence. Thanks._

* * *

**Prologue: The First Meeting.**

Night at Jump City.

Many people instantly associate night with darkness. If they are talking about the appearance, they are quite right. But when it comes to what it really is…

Night and its darkness hide many things. Some good, some bad. Others the gray shade of them all. But most of the time, the actions taking place at night are quiet, going completely unnoticed.

No such luck for the splinter section of Wayne Industries.

"ARGH!"

Night hides many things… Including the features of this man, bursting through the roof of the aforementioned building while carrying a strange device on his left arm. However, the night had been unable to hide sound: A silent alarm had gone off. And it would bring visitors.

* * *

The T-shaped tower. Not very original, mind you, but still… A monument and home to the guardians of the city, currently enjoying blissful sleep.

That is, before the alarm that had silently gone off on Wayne Industries also went off on the tower… Not so silently.

The inhabitants of the place were up within the second. Some more annoyed than others.

"Titans." Echoed a voice we all know too well throughout the entire building. "Trouble."

* * *

How.

The word ringed unstopped on the man's head as he ran. How? He had been so careful…

_Not careful enough._

_"**WHERE IS SHE!**" _

He had failed. Again.

A human had outsmarted him.

_"Do you really think I would hide her here?" _

He hated his voice. The utter calmness it always appeared to have made him shudder.

He hated that button more.

_"Were I to press this button, the room where she's being held would be filled with a poisonous gas on one eighth of a second. She would die shortly after that."_

One eighth of a second. Not even the speck of a chance to save her…

Not even a plan…

_"I do not recommend trying to take this from me. If anyone without my handprint touches it, the gas will go off instantly."_

Not even the hope that she'll be able to resist…

_"The gas is powerful, child… It would even kill a demon in a matter of seconds."_

Nothing… Nothing he could possibly do.

He despised feeling helpless. But as much as he fought it, the feeling soon overwhelmed his entire being.

_"What do you want from me?"_

He had to protect her.

He had to save her.

Someway… There had to be someway…

_"I want you to be my apprentice."_

His freedom.

_I had no choice._

No longer free.

_She needs to live. _

He was a slave.

_She'll live…_

He was Slade Wilson's new apprentice.

_SHE'LL. LIVE._

It did not matter what he had to give up. All that matters it's her safety.

_Just keep telling yourself that, kid._

His ears caught the sound with narrowly enough time for him to dodge. Jumping back, he spotted the boomerang-like object that had been forcefully encased on the roof-spot he had just been standing on.

"I'm guessing that gizmo doesn't belong to you." Called a voice behind him.

He didn't have to turn around to know who was there, but he did so anyway.

The five figures stared back.

"Ah." His voice was rather rough and deep, one of the men in front of him had actually expected him to add 'bub'. "The Teen Titans."

Night hid many things indeed…

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

**_Side note: _**_Some of you may notice that this is similar to a fic I did some time ago, I assure you it will not be the same as the Gary Stu my character used to be. I'll try to make the entire fic more realistic and without godly powers. Believe me, I don't plan of repeating my mistakes._

_And if you think all chapters will be this short, prepare to be dumbstruck._


	2. Chapter 01: Expect the Unexpected

**Chapter 01: Expect the unexpected.**

Robin hadn't expected much.

Middle of the night break-out on a high-tech institution: Probably Gizmo, or Cinderblock, perhaps another random villain being used as dumb-muscle by an unknown crime lord.

Indeed he hadn't expected much. But he _had _expected someone he knew.

The man before his team was a complete stranger. Wearing a skintight t-shirt with a turtleneck that split at the middle, leather pants, wrist-bands and steel-toed boots, all pitch-black with yellow outlines, he fit perfectly into the night.

His hair grew down to the middle of his neck and seemed unkempt. It was also dark as the clothes, save for more than a few golden streaks on it. He appeared to be Caucasian, though it was hard to tell because of the darkness surrounding them; finally, his strange golden eyes threw a gaze towards the Jump City guardians, studying them carefully.

Luckily, the device under his arm had been giving a dim glow; otherwise the Titans would have had a harder time spotting the thief.

Though the person himself still remained unknown, Robin has seen the red outlines on his back breaking from their path to form an S with a pointy design.

That was all the young hero needed to know.

"Slade." He hissed, as the memories of their last encounter came to mind.

"Man, what is it with you Slade people?" Yawned Beastboy, the animal shape-shifter. "Who robs a tech-lab at three in the morning!"

This earned him strange looks from everyone.

"Oh… Right…" Muttered Beastboy, realizing what he had just said.

Green fur is very helpful when trying to hide a blush.

"I see your team is at peak mental condition." Commented the thief while staring at his predecessor. Envy was almost noticeable on his features.

"Where's Slade?" Asked Robin, taking out his metallic staff.

"Can't answer that question, kid." The other replied, backing up slightly.

Robin narrowed the slits of his mask. The rest of the titans were already beginning to surround their potential enemy.

"Why are you working for him?" Robin slowly started to advance.

The still-unnamed thief was running out of space to back up.

"Why were _you_?"

This made the teen wonder pause for a second. But only so.

"Titans, GO!"

Too late.

Once the kid had ran out of space, he had jumped from the edge of the building towards the ground.

Robin was dumbstruck for a couple of seconds: He had seen no gadgets on him and he knew Slade would know better than to pick someone suicidal as an apprentice, so what..?

His answer came on wings… Literally.

Bat wings, to be exact. Two of them, massive ones attached to the stranger's back as he suddenly flew up the building and towards the horizon.

"Those weren't there before." Cyborg commented in mild shock.

"Apparently, Slade has decided to go with a special breed as an apprentice." Robin had already taken out his grappling hook. "Metahuman."

"No." Raven corrected. "Demon."

"Whatever he is, he's also getting away." Robin said, firing his weapon. "Titans! Spread and after him!"

* * *

The distance that our little friend had managed put between the Titans and himself was slowly decreasing as the figure behind him approached. Not that he was slowing down at all: She was just faster than he was. And by the looks of it, she was faster than her friends as well.

Proof of this was that not five seconds after these thoughts crossed his mind, an intense wave of heat reached his back.

His eyes widened as he hastily moved out of the way to avoid being hit by the Starbolt. But he got no relief out of it, because no sooner he avoided the blast, a bombardment more came from the Tamarenian girl that was more near him than he would have liked.

Luckily for the Titans, except maybe Beastboy, it really was three in the morning, so anyone who was still awake at this hour was either in their homes or at work. Save for a few parked cars, nothing was on the street. Which was good luck for Starfire: She could continue her Starbolt-rampage without having to worry about making irreparable harm.

Which was _very_ bad luck for our young thief, as he made a great number of awkward maneuvers to evade the blasts while frantically trying to continue flying forward at the same time.

Starfire, being the innocent girl that she still was even after all she had been through, couldn't help but stop for a second and giggle. Enemy or not, the movements he was making to evade her attacks were rather comical to her, and they would have been to anyone else as well… except of course, the kid.

Innocence can be bliss, but it can also be your undoing. The moment she stopped, the kid saw his chance.

He jumped straight into the pavement and, using only one hand with amazing ease, lifted a parked car before throwing it at the still mildly-distracted alien.

Starfire's eyes widened as she noticed the red Mitsubishi, now too close for even her to evade. The impact drove girl to the ground.

Smiling but at the same time knowing a car wouldn't keep her down for long, the attacker took flight again, ready to escape.

Too bad Starfire's attack had been mainly a distraction. The kid realized this when he found Cyborg on top of a green pterodactyl, both facing him about fifteen feet ahead from where he levitated.

They stood for a moment staring at one another. Then, the kid smiled as he suddenly charged against the two titans at top speed.

Pterodactyl Beastboy responded by doing likewise as Cyborg jumped into its green head, kneeling on it while his right arm morphed into a glowing sonic-cannon.

The best strategy in this situation, specially considering you are carrying a delicate piece of machinery, would have been to turn sideways at the last minute and look for another escape route.

Unfortunately for our young would-be-villain, not only he was cocky and overconfident on his abilities but he was also not much interested on battle strategies that might result on his welfare.

So along with not following the smart plan, he also speeded up his pace as his right fist suddenly was glowing on a golden outline.

When both of them were within each other's reach, Cyborg lashed out his cannon at the same time as the stranger lashed out his fist.

Both attacks clashed with a roar.

What followed was a shockwave worthy of one of the Matrix movies as both of them struggled to push the other back.

In the end, it was Cyborg who won the power struggle: While the stranger was obviously stronger, Cyborg had used the pterodactyl's thick skull as resistance to evade being pushed back.

Sure Beastboy may very well have the migraine of his life for the remainder of the week, But at least Cyborg had thrown the enemy back…

By more than ten blocks.

"…Maybe I overdid it a little." Muttered Cyborg, as his metallic eye allowed him to see the kid crash against a light-post in the distance.

No kidding, Cy.

Oh, look. Beastboy's zigzagging dizzily.

* * *

What I wrote about Cyborg seeing him crash against the light-post had only been a vague description.

Not only had he crashed against it, but the upper part of it had been weakened by the impact and had fallen on his head. Where are the timber-yelling lumberjacks when you need them, right?

"Ok…" He groaned awkwardly while lifting the post off his head. "Tactical retreat… Not a good idea."

He placed the device, which had miraculously came out unharmed save for a few dents, carefully next to him. After that, his wings suddenly banished retracting into his back, as if they were never there.

"Let's try full-throttle assault later." He thought outloud.

A pair of blue boots descended low enough for him to notice them. He looked up to see Raven's hips. Five seconds later, he looked up to see her face.

"Nice legs." He noted in a crude manner. "Think that outfit doesn't show enough skin?"

Big mistake.

Two big chunks of the street bolted up encased in black energy and crush the kid like a sandwich.

'…Feisty one.' He thought on his uncomfortable position, deciding it was not wise to say it outloud.

Someone should have told him Raven was a telepath.

The girl just growled in annoyance while her power threw the still-trapped kid against a couple of light-post and even some cars, not really caring about property damage anymore.

She set him down after two minutes of playing ping-pong.

Not one second after she did that, he broke off his stone prison, looking pissed. Raven had to cover her face on her cloak to avoid the dust.

"Damn mind readers." He muttered, looking lost and dizzy.

He got his head back together in time to jump back just as Robin's staff suddenly slammed against his previous spot, leaving a _very _noticeable dent.

'The leader.' He thought grimly: he did not hate him, but he held great resentment towards Robin. After all, if Robin had just stayed Slade's apprentice, he wouldn't be on this dilemma.

At least that was his reasoning.

By now, many people had woken up and ran to the windows to see what was going on. Never mind them being smart and actually try to evacuate the place without getting harmed! God forbid they missed the big Metahuman fight.

"HAY-YAH!" Robin screamed, swinging the staff once again aiming at the head.

However, this time it was caught.

Robin looked a bit surprised.

The stranger would have taken pride on that, had he not been too busy struggling to keep the staff from advancing.

"Who are you?" Asked Robin, as he too struggled to get his staff going.

The kid seemed to think it over for a second.

"Call me…" He started and, to Robin's shock, he also started pushing back the staff. Easily. "Metatron."

The staff no longer a problem, the kid slammed a fierce kick at Robin's gut, sending him flying across the street.

The armor Robin always wore had lessened the blow, but it still hurt a lot. And that was a problem: Only one of Starfire's hits could hurt that much.

But let's forget about that! For we finally have a name for our protagonist/antagonist! No more the kid, the teen, the thief and such! He has a real name! REJOICE!

…

Ahem, moving on…

Metatron (YAY! Ok, last one.) Was beginning to walk towards the Teen Wonder when the energy-encased light-post threw him back. It also reminded him that the gothic sorceress by the name of Raven was still on the battlefield.

Raven had drawn back when Robin had arrived, wanting to see how well her leader could fight against a demon… By how it ended up, she hopped his skills would increase soon. Her father will be a lot more troublesome than this guy.

"A demon with an angel's name." She commented, floating towards Metatron. "Somehow… It's strangely fitting."

"Yeah, that's partly why I chose it." Responded the latter calmly as he got up from the impact. "Gotta love the irony of the simplest things, don't you think?"

"In a way." She answered.

Robin soon joined Raven's side, staff at hand. Metatron's strength may have caught him by surprise the first time, but now that he knew of it, it wouldn't be surprising him again.

He hoped.

Sighing, Metatron decided to make the first move as he ran towards the duo. Strangely, he seemed to be faster on his feet than on his wings; seventy-five miles per hour, Robin guessed, a cheetah's average speed.

Do I really need to say that's not good?

Robin barely got the time to raise his staff as a shield when Metatron was on his face, swinging a fist. More of a storm of fists actually, as he threw hit after hit against his adversary. To his credit, and finally proving he was on hell of a fighter, Robin managed to block all of them.

Raven was getting tired of being ignored. So she decided to make her next hit a big one.

"Azarath…" She started as her eyes glowed on their now common white light.

Metatron reached out and grabbed the upper end of Robin's staff with both hands.

"Metrion…" Raven continued.

To Robin's confusion, Metatron jumped and swung on the staff vertically, almost ripping off an event on a movie vastly known for its special effects.

"**ZINT--!**"

BLAM!

Both of Metatron's feet slammed against the half-demon's face, sending her stumbling halfway to the end of the block. He had used the staff to swing himself and obtain enough potency to knock the girl senseless.

"RAVEN!" Robin screamed, momentarily forgetting the fight to run help his friend.

And leaving himself completely open.

"You gotta work on your focus." Metatron commented, while swinging his fist barbarically against the other teen's face, promptly breaking his nose and throwing him in the opposite direction as Raven.

Many 'boo's came from the people watching the fight from their houses.

They were all silenced when Metatron glared at them. Sighing, both of his hands glowed on the same golden light they had glow with Cyborg… Except this time it took a spherical, sparking form. He aimed one at Robin and one at Raven.

"Nothing personal, guys." He said as he prepared to fire.

He never got a chance.

The gigantic blue/white beam suddenly slamming against his body saw to that.

"Booyah." Said Cyborg through clenched teeth as he drew back his cannon.

He looked from Robin, to Raven and then to Metatron, angrily. Specially at the fact that he had been too late to try to help his friends. Metatron, who had been driven against the building behind him due to the attack, just glared at the metallic hybrid… Or he would have, if the monkey screech hadn't suddenly made him look up.

And indeed, a small greenish monkey was free-falling above him. Metatron didn't felt threatened.

"What good is _that _gonna do?" He asked himself.

Then the little monkey suddenly morphed into a gigantic… Big-foot thing?

"Ah." Said Metatron in realization. "That…"

The creature joined his massive hands in a hammer-fist position while letting out a roar.

"Bring it on then." Metatron murmured, adopting a similar position.

The two hammer-fists crashed against each other's head with such strength it shook the entire building, causing some shattering windows and screams of people in them.

Superman, Doomsday, eat your heart out. Ok, so maybe it wasn't _that _powerful of an impact, but you get the point.

Metatron looked like he might be getting a stroke, but he did not fall… Big-foot Beastboy on the other hand, fell flat on his back.

"BEASTBOY!" Yelled Cyborg in shock.

'Well, that's one Titan down.' Thought Metatron, breathing heavily.

Big-foot suddenly got on his feet again.

'…Maybe not.' Metatron groaned, realizing that while the creature was not stronger than him, it compensated it by being pretty damn resistant to blows.

Letting out a roar, Big-foot tackled Metatron against the building, making him gasp for air, as his lungs were crushed.

"MOVE!" Came Cyborg's yell.

Beastboy listened, as he hopped away after transforming into a rabbit.

Metatron didn't even had time to gather his thoughts before a full blast of Cyborg's sonic-cannon smashed his chest.

This time, he really did feel it.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Metatron screamed as the blast finally came to a stop.

He fell on all fours, shaking slightly before coughing up some blood.

"Damnit." He cursed. He needed a plan… A strategy… A break!

Of course, none of the above came.

Instead, Starfire did. Flying at top speed, she grabbed Metatron by the shoulders and yanked him off the ground.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" He yelled at her.

Starfire answered by heating her arms with her solar-based powers to the point where she was almost making third degree burns.

Fun fact: Metatron can scream quite well when in pain.

"UHHHH! LET. GO!" He yelled, twisting himself in an awkward way and actually slashing across Starfire's face with his nails.

Strangely, it worked. The girl shrieked in pain as she covered her face with her hands without even knowing why: They were just nails; they weren't supposed to hurt her.

Metatron didn't bother explaining as he hit Starfire on the face with all the strength he could muster, which was a lot.

Starfire was thrown all the way back to the building he had been in and crashed against the wall violently. The building shook even more violently. Metatron had to wonder how is it that the foundation hadn't given out yet.

New problem caught his attention: He was free-falling. Of course, he easily fixed that by growing his wings… But by the time he did, another problem had arisen: Due to the last impact against that incredibly resistant building, the people in it had proven not to be so incredibly resistant as many of them started losing their balance, and falling through the windows.

"Fuck!" Metatron heard Cyborg yell on the ground. "BB! HELP ME GET THEM!"

Instantly, the half-robot rushed to the aid of the civilians while the green changeling changed into some kind of winged animal Metatron couldn't quite make out from the distance… Not that he cared. He was only aware of one thing: Escape opportunity.

He flew down to grab his device and get out of here.

* * *

"Gotcha!" Yelled Cyborg, after grabbing yet another guy, who kept screaming even though he was safe now.

Beastboy had his own problems as he carried more people than he should have been able to on his back. He was a pterodactyl again, in case you were wondering.

He thought that was all of them.

And he was right. But fate naturally liked to torture superheroes.

Where's fate now, you ask?

Right here.

The little boy screamed as he slipped off Beastboy's wing and started falling. The changeling's eyes widened.

"CY!" He yelled, trying to get his friend to help.

Cyborg listened, and rushed to the boy's side… Then fate suddenly decided to be a bitch to him too: The building's foundation finally couldn't take any more as big chunks of rock suddenly fell all over the ground… And all over Cyborg as well, encasing the hybrid beneath them and out of the screaming child's reach.

Within his stone prison, Cyborg panicked.

And then the scream came to an abrupt stop: The kid must have reached the ground. And if so, he was…

"NO!" Roared Cyborg, forcing himself out of the wreckage, frantically looking for the kid, wanting to see if there was _some _way he had survived so he could help him. Nevermind the fact that Cyborg himself, who wore a thick metallic armor all over his body, would have had a lot of trouble coming out of a fall like _that_ unharmed.

Imagine his surprise where the found that the child was nowhere to be found. Feeling somewhat confused, he looked around a little more and came out with nothing.

"He's here." Called a voice above him.

Cyborg jerked his head up and saw the kid, who had some tears on his eyes, on the arms of his current enemy.

"Next time, I suggest you look up when searching for a victim you never actually saw hit the ground." Metatron stated coldly, starting to descend.

Cyborg's panic returned. What would this maniac do with the child? Will he use him as a hostage to get away? Will he just kill him on the spot out of sick pleasure? Or will he…

Metatron reached the ground and dropped the kid. The latter grunted in protest at the brusque way his 'savior' had used to release him.

…Let him go? Cyborg was reasonably confused. Beastboy, who by now had dropped off the civilians on the ground, came to the robot's side, mirroring his expression.

As his wings banished again like last time, Metatron looked at the pair of Titans, very annoyed. Then his harsh gaze fell on the boy he had just saved.

"Go find your mother." He spat, getting more annoyed by the second: This kid had ruined his semi-clean getaway.

The kid did not move as he stared at Metatron in a combination of fear and gratefulness.

"_NOW._" Metatron half-growled, his eyes narrowing.

The gratefulness left and the fear remained, the kid finally rushing back to the building, which may be a pretty bad idea, seeing as many were already evacuating it.

Metatron stared at the child for a couple of second before focusing on the Titans again. He recognized their confusion instantly.

"I'm not a cold-blooded killer." Metatron explained, mater-of-factly. "I will not kill a child or anyone who has not done me, or someone I care about, wrong. And despite what you may think of me, I am not low enough as to use a hostage to escape."

"Yet you were about to kill our friends had I not stopped you." Cyborg remarked.

"Getting on my way is a crime punishable by death on my eyes." Metatron answered with somewhat of a smile. "Besides, I sincerely doubt an attack of that magnitude would be enough to kill them… I don't suppose you are gonna let me go out of gratitude for saving the child you couldn't reach?"

"Not a chance." Cyborg replied, arming his sonic-cannon once again.

"Figures." Metatron groaned.

He then lashed towards the pair, surprising them both with his speed as they had not seen him use it until now.

Metatron went for the weakest first and threw a punch at Beastboy, slamming him against the building behind them. With any luck, they would wreck this one as well. The residents in it decided not to take chances as some of them started evacuating as well.

"DAMN YOU!" Cyborg screamed, aiming his sonic-cannon at the teen next to him.

And found that he was no longer there. Cyborg was barely able to stop the blast from releasing: Had he fired, he would have hit the civilians that were twenty feet in front of him, the ones that had evacuated their homes.

"GET AWAY FROM HERE!" He yelled, not wanting to hit them by accident.

Luckily, they listened. Cyborg sighed and turned back to Metatron.

He found the kid standing on top of a Chevrolet Van.

"You know, the good thing about being the bad guy is that we don't have to worry about civilians." He remarked.

"The bad thing is that you have to worry about us!" Cyborg yelled.

"True." He answered, hopping off the Van.

Suddenly, Metatron grabbed the vehicle with both hands and threw it against the metal teen.

Cyborg looked a bit amused at this. Sure, Starfire was the strongest member of the team, and sure, Metatron had managed to temporally bring her down with a similar strategy. But that was only because she hadn't seen it coming. Cyborg had, and he would have no trouble catching it.

Right around then is when he noticed Metatron had fired one of his strange golden blasts. Aimed at the Van's gas tank. Cyborg's eyes widened.

_OH **SHI--!**_

****

BOOM.

One Titan down, four to go.

Metatron grew increasingly worried at this even as he saw Cyborg fall. He was growing tired. And he had only taken one of them down for sure; the other's wounds weren't strong enough to keep them down long enough for him to escape. He wasn't sure he could do this.

And then the green cheetah dragged him to ground, roaring. Beastboy figured it would be best if he matched his speed.

Too bad he didn't take into account that the cheetah wasn't exactly the most resistant member of the animal kingdom when it came to blows.

"GET. OFF." Metatron growled, while throwing the feline off him.

The cheetah shrieked at the sudden change, but it was abruptly stopped by Metatron's fist shattering its face and dragging it into the concrete.

The animal spasmed twice before reverting to its human form and laying limb.

That made two titans down. This one had been fairly easy, maybe he really could do this.

The Starbolt slamming against his back made him reconsider.

Starfire was mad. And the girl was fairly stronger than he was, so this could end really badly.

"You have harmed my friends!" She yelled in righteous anger.

Metatron got up shakily.

"What!" He snapped. "You attacked me first! What I did was only in self-defense! Have you forgotten that!"

The alien girl was thrown back by that comeback, realizing he was right.

"You took property that does not belong to you!" She replied, somewhat confused but her fists still glowing dangerously. "That makes you a criminal and a threat to our city!"

"Oh, yeah. 'Cause I just _live _to make innocent bystanders suffer." He snapped.

"Ah, so you admit it then!" Exclaimed Starfire, failing to notice the sarcasm.

Metatron facevaulted.

"You really need to work on your earth knowledge…" He murmured.

Starfire did not hear him, and was about to attack again had Metatron not jumped back to about being his by three red blurs. Three very sharp red blurs.

"Oh no…" Metatron groaned as the Teen Wonder rushed to Starfire's side.

"You ok?" Robin asked the girl, not lifting his eyes off their adversary.

Starfire only nodded in response.

Robin then let out a battle cry as he swung his staff at Metatron again, the latter evading barely. Robin tried again, and like last time, it was caught. Though it took a lot more resolve to do so.

Robin didn't look surprised.

"Why not try a hand-to-hand combat?" Metatron asked as he slammed his fist against the staff, snapping it in half with a smile.

The smile faded quickly when the undamaged side of the weapon suddenly grew larger, forming a brand new one.

"OH, YOU HAVE _GOT _TO BE KIDDING ME!" Metatron yelled in disbelief.

Robin took his chance for another swing of his weapon. This time it didn't miss, it slammed across the other teen's chest sending him flying back with a scream.

"STARFIRE!" Robin yelled at his teammate. "BRING HIM DOWN!"

The girl abided by throwing a storm of Starbolts towards Metatron, who found himself ballet dancing once again in an attempt to evade them even through the pain on his chest.

Soon he slipped, as one got him on the face and another, and another, until he had been drawn to the ground because of the impacts. His body was barely visible from all the attacks.

"ENOUGH!" He bellowed in pain, swinging his arms and diverting the blasts.

Starfire stopped with a gasp, as she noticed the features of her adversary were changing: He suddenly grew fangs were his canine teeth had been, his ears became elfin and pointy resembling Beastboy's and his nails were replaced by glowing black claws.

Robin was also surprised by the sudden change. If there was ever any doubt of Metatron being a demon, there sure isn't any now.

Starfire's eyes were focused on the claws. At least now she knew how his scratch had hurt when he did it.

Feeling more angry than hurt, Metatron formed two golden blasts on each hand and then fused them together forming one the size of an average basketball.

"JUST STAY DOWN!" He roared before launching his attack against Starfire.

The girl yelped in surprise and responded with her own Super-Starbolt. Both blasts met in mid-air and exploded at impact, blinding all three teens momentarily.

Starfire blinked a couple of times, her eyes slowly going back to focus and noticed the big cloud of smoke that had been left from their attacks collapsing. She gasped when Metatron suddenly came out of that smoke, reaching out to her on a jump.

She tried to fly out of reach, but Metatron managed to grab her ankle, causing the girl to panic.

"I SAID..." He began, as he used both hands, his strength and gravity to pull the girl down. "_STAY_ **_DOWN!_**"

Before she could even fight him off, Starfire slammed against the ground face-first, a small crater was created by the powerful impact. She didn't move after that. Metatron, however, let go of her leg and laid in the ground, breathing heavily.

"NO!"

Jerking his head so fast it hurt, the tired demon turned to face the source of the noise. He felt fear when he saw the other's expression.

"STARFIRE!" Robin called in pure horror.

The girl didn't responded… Nor did she move.

Metatron gulped when Robin turned to face him: He could clearly see murder on his eyes. Or mask, let's not go through this again.

"**_YOU!_**" Robin bellowed, lashing out at Metatron.

The latter had only managed to get up when Robin made a swift low kick, throwing him off his feet again. Letting out a scream, Robin swung down his staff as if it were a hammer, aiming for the head… Metatron barely had time to cartwheel to the side. Robin had seen it, and delivered a perfect low roundhouse kick, pushing Metatron away.

Through his pain, Metatron forced himself to do a back-flip to stand up before this enraged teenager did away with him. The staff swung for his head again, luckily, he saw it coming and jumped away. Unluckily, Robin had expected this so no sooner had Metatron left the ground when his attacker hurled four birdarangs at him.

He managed to evade the first two with moves worthy of a cheerleader but the remainder got him on the cheek and the leg. Groaning, he landed on one knee.

Robin way already making his way towards him at the time; though Metatron just lay there, trying to gather energy, a smile on his face.

"Heh… I can't believe ragging hormones are gonna be my undoing…" He muttered, knowing he was soon to reach his limit.

Robin hurled three more projectiles towards him. Metatron knew they weren't birdarangs because they were round and not red, but he also knew better that to not avoid them… And it was a damn good thing he did: They exploded at contact with the ground.

'Explosives.' Metatron thought, realizing his day had just gotten a lot worse.

Or maybe…

Robin threw two more.

Metatron, deciding he was already pretty much screwed anyway, ran directly towards the deadly weapons. Beneath his mask, Robin arched an eyebrow: This was the second time now this kid seemed to be acting suicidal.

However, Slade's new protégé jumped when he was near the explosives, landing in front of Robin shortly after. The Titan's leader prepared to attack when he was within reach… And then abruptly came to a stop when Metatron brought up his hand to the teen's face.

For Metatron's hand wasn't empty: One of the explosives was being carefully held in it.

"…But… What?" Robin stammered, dumbstruck. And he had good reason. The weapon should have gone off the second Metatron touched it.

"Slade is a decent teacher when he wants to be." Metatron replied, his words dripping with bitterness at the name of his 'teacher'.

Robin remained silent. So the other continued.

"Riddle me this." He said, in his best Edward Nigma. "How well can a human dwell at ground zero of a grenade explosion?"

The accurate answer was 'not too well'.

Robin was well aware of this when he saw Metatron let go of the bomb before running away, so he tried to do the same. It worked… Somewhat.

While he managed to put enough distance between himself and the weapon to avoid being killed, he did not get enough time to come out 100 unharmed.

The result: When the bomb went off, Robin was blown clear from the shockwave, his costume half-burned and falling to pieces, his skin not doing so well either. He was finally force stop when his human body practically splattered against the wrecking building that had been evacuated earlier in the fight.

Metatron watched all this sitting on the pavement at a safe distance, feeling like he had probably shortened his life span by at least twenty years for pulling and stunt like that. But at least he had won.

Three big chunks of rock, finally shaken out of place by the most recent impact against them, broke off the building and started falling towards Robin.

For a second, Metatron considered saving him. But only for a second.

The rocks were and inch away from Robin's body when they stopped, causing Metatron's eyes to widen. They were encased in black energy.

"Oh, please no…" He begged. He couldn't possibly survive one more fight.

His heart sank when Raven floated above the rocks.

"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!" She yelled. Instantly, the rocks dived for Metatron.

Once again, Metatron forced himself to make moves he shouldn't have been able to make in these conditions as he managed, purely by luck, to evade all three rocks. He stopped immediately afterwards, falling on his knees while uttering a muffled scream: He had just pulled a leg muscle.

Panicking, he ran over his options. All of them included Raven beating the hell out of him. And it was doubtful Slade would be happy with something like that, so there had to be something else.

_Stall._

"So… Are you ok? I hit you a lot harder than I did Robin…" He started, immediately feeling stupid: He was trying to make small-talk with a girl who wanted to reduce him to a pathetic, little speck!

Raven said noting as a nearby car was suddenly lifted and swung at Metatron like a bat. The latter tried to run, but he was painfully reminded his leg was now completely useless for running… And being a sitting duck, the car got him head-on.

Had he been thinking clear, he would have wondered how is it that the car didn't explode, (Raven's powers had prevented this, she wanted him alive. For the time being…) but the pain had numbed his reasoning as he collapsed near the half-demon and the unconscious bodies of Beastboy and Starfire.

Blood and sweat started blurring his vision as he slowly attempted to stand up… Only to have the girl kick him on the side violently. Not only was this painful, but it was strange as well: Raven never used physical contact, she always used her powers.

What Metatron didn't realize was that behind her blank façade, the daughter of Trigon was furious beyond reason. Behind her sarcasm and emotionless manner she had been forced to use because of her birthright, Raven cared deeply for her friends. The people that had accepted and believed in her even after Azarath, her home dimension, had turned its back on the girl.

In other words: **NOBODY **hurts **HER **friends.

Raven allowed Metatron to stand up and face her, knowing he couldn't run. The boy did… He looked at her hatefully.

"You are pathetic." He spat.

Raven raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

This should be good.

"Look at them." He muttered, motioning to her team. "Look at yourself. You are a demon."

Raven didn't seem perturbed at all that he knew. After all, she had even able to tell he was one too.

"Your point?"

"You don't belong with them." He growled, more blood flowing from his forehead. "What the hell are you protecting humans for?"

"They don't posses the ability to do so by themselves. At least not when it comes to… Special beings."

"And after that, they go and screw their lives until they ultimately burn on the Eternal Fire."

"You can only show a horse the stream, you cannot make it drink."

"Half the people you save you will have to fight later on."

"Maybe so. But in the end, it's better than the alternative."

"No, it isn't. Think about it."

"Are you done?" Asked Raven. "I have no interest of whatever insane theories you may have on the world."

Metatron backed away a little.

"No. I'm not done."

The goth girl started chanting again.

"You see, Raven. You are not a champion among humans. You are a champion among demons… So to speak."

Raven paused.

"No, you are not adored or admired or even respected by demons… Yet you stand out from the rest. You fight what you are. You fight what you will irrefutably become. You fight your bloodline. You fight yourself. That makes you pathetic and extraordinaire at the same time."

By now, Raven's concentration on her spells had dimmed.

"Raven, humans fear us." Metatron continued. "Because of what we are… Because of where they think we are from… Absolutely nothing you can do will change the fact that all of them will fear you. I learned that long ago…" He closed his eyes momentarily before continuing. "You can't fight what you are. You are a demon. That fact alone will ultimately take over your being in the end. Why bother fighting it? I don't fight my demonic nature. I don't like what I am, but I accept it. That's something you would do well to imitate."

Anger rose on the demonic girl again.

"NO!" She yelled, throwing an earth-shattering blast towards the kid.

Due to his speech, Metatron had forgotten how tired he was… Or how injured his leg remained. He was reminded of both facts when he tried to move.

Raven's attack made him fall with a groan.

"I am nothing like you." The girl stated. And it was the truth; she felt it on her heart clearly. Metatron was wrong. He was wrong about her… And maybe about himself.

Slowly, and to Raven's surprise, Metatron started getting up.

_I can't fall. I refuse._

And though his spirit was willing, his body couldn't give much more. No matter how much he was willing to do, in the end he _would_ fall. Unless he came up with something.

_I can't let her die on his hands._

Metatron let out a small gasp when he felt a hand grab his foot. Both he and Raven looked down at the same time. There laid Beastboy, his eyes empty, probably not even knowing who is it he was grabbing. And yet…

_He was starting to wake up._

Which meant the others wouldn't be far behind.

Metatron thought he'd felt panic before. He had been horribly wrong. The feeling that overwhelmed him the instant he realized the Titans would soon be ready to fight again was the most powerful and terrible feeling that had ever crossed his mind.

He no longer cared if they would beat him. Hell, in any other fight, he would have already fallen after Starfire's last rampage. But if he were to lose now…

_She'll die…_

**_NO._**

****

He would give up anything before he allowed that. Even his morals.

So he did.

Growling, the two wings emerged again, though his face showed that it took him a great deal of resolve to make them material.

Raven's eyes narrowed.

Though before she could come up with a strategy for her next move, Metatron took off… Carrying Beastboy on his arms. Raven gasped as she saw him land on the roof of a nearby skyscraper.

Soon, she had reached them… And stopped dead.

Metatron stood at the edge of the building, holding Beastboy over it with one arm.

"You know…" He started. "A decision like this will always come up in the life you've chosen: The time to choose between the friend… And the enemy."

Raven stared at him. Metatron stared back blankly.

"Choose."

And then he let go.

For a second, it all seemed to go in slow-motion for Raven as she saw Beastboy slowly fall to certain doom. Then she snapped herself back into reality.

"AZARATHMETRION**_ZINTHOS!_**" She yelled quickly, while flying past Metatron and down towards Beastboy.

Her incantation kicked in before she had reached the edge of the building, as a dark energy cocoon warped Metatron's body, intended to keep him there until Raven came back.

Raven, even through her speed, couldn't possibly reach Beastboy in time without being unable to stop herself from crashing down as well… So she improvised.

"ZINTHOS!" She uttered, before a portal opened in front of her and swallowing the girl.

The portal re-opened at the ground and Raven stepped out, looking up to see Beastboy quickly making his way to her.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" She murmured.

Beastboy was softly covered on a similar cocoon as the one that had held Metatron captive. At the same time, as springboard-looking black energy carried him to the ground with a soft 'thud'. After that, they disappeared as if they never were.

Raven then sighed while examining her friend, making sure there wasn't a serious injury on him. When none was found, she flew to the roof to retrieve Metatron.

She wasn't surprised when she found that he was no longer there.

He had escaped. But at least he hadn't taken the device; as Raven saw it in the same spot Metatron had left it when she came down to check on her other friends.

Most of them were ok: A couple of flesh wounds that would heal in a day or so, Starfire was even up when Raven arrived. Robin was the one who had taken the worst of the fight… As formidable a fighter he was, him being human still made a world of difference.

His costume was in wrecks… Half his mask had been burned off from the explosion, his right forearm and a bit of his cheek had multiple second degree burns in it, while the other arm had been dislocated and hung on a strange angle. Finally, his leg had been broken in three places.

"Oh Tim…" Raven lamented before she used her powers to speed up his healing. After reducing the broken leg to a very slight fracture, relocating his arm back into its socket and healing most of his cuts; she had to stop: Otherwise, she would have had a stroke.

Robin would have to heal the burns on his own. That wasn't such a bad deal all things considered…

The Boy Wonder hadn't expected much.

He should have.

* * *

Metatron walked through the metallic hallways of Slade's lair, limping all the way. He found the man on the main room, watching quietly a rerun of his recent fight.

"I'm back." Metatron hissed.

"That's one failed mission, Metatron." Slade replied simply, not moving his head from the screen.

The apprentice was astonished.

"W-what?" He asked.

"I thought I made myself quite clear." Slade answered, still watching the fight.

"You…" Metatron began, anger rising slowly within him. "What the _fuck _do you mean 'failed mission'? The Titans didn't beat me!"

"Did you beat them?" Slade asked.

Metatron didn't answer.

"Very well, Let us observe the objective of your mission." Slade continued, finally get up. "Did you bring the device with you?"

Metatron's eyes fell on the ground.

"The Tamarenian girl was getting up when I went to retrieve it." He muttered slowly. "I couldn't win another fight against her on my state, as weakened as she was, I was in worse condition. I had to leave it and retreat before she--."

"That's one failed mission." Slade interrupted, turning around to face him. Anger beyond meaning flowed from his eyes at the fact that his apprentice had ran away from battle. "You only get two more chances. I suggest you apply yourself better next time."

Metatron's eyes, though he hated himself for it, showed worry: When he had been taken by Slade, the man had told him that from all the missions he will give him, he was only allowed to fail a grand total of two. If he failed a third one, the button would be pushed. And now... The chances were reduced even more.

"But--." He began, only to be interrupted again.

"I do not like failure, Metatron." Slade stated, walking towards him. "I made that clear when we made our arrangement."

Metatron clenched his teeth as he saw him approach.

"Some terms." He snapped, venom dripping from his words. "'Do what I want or the girl dies'. I believe those were your words, weren't they?"

Before he could do anything else, Slade was suddenly in front of him, seizing him by the neck and lifting him off the ground. Metatron's eyes widened as Slade continued to stare at him in endless rage.

"Failure is something that is not accepted by people like me, Metatron." He hissed. "Failure is something to be punished. Severely."

Slade's black eye meet with Metatron's as darkness started surrounding the room.

The walls on Slade's lair were completely soundproof. No one heard the screams of a teen coming from them. Screams that lasted hours…

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

_And so ends chapter 02. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it._

_Metatron: Me being tortured… Does it get any better? 'Cause I still have some sanity left on me, you know._

_Be quiet, you. _


	3. Chapter 02: Aftermath

**Chapter 02: Aftermath.**

"Report." Robin requested.

He and his team were currently on the meeting room of Titan's Tower, where they had the ever-popular circular table with 5 metallic chairs designed for each member. As the leader, Robin sat in front of everyone, having a clear view over all his teammates.

That fact, above all, was what made him feel somewhat useless at the moment: His team had a few purplish spots at most as a result from the fight while he had burns on his cheek and left arm, plus a (slightly) broken leg. Of course, he never took into account that any other normal person would have come out with far worse injures, Robin was always the perfectionist.

Beastboy was the first to respond.

"On what? You were there, you know what happened!"

Hey, I never said he responded maturely. The kid's fifteen, give him a break.

Robin didn't. He cast one of his glares upon him, making the green changeling shrink in a bit of fear.

"What do we have on Metatron?" Robin clarified.

"Aside from the fact that he's Slade's new lackey? Not much." Cyborg answered.

Robin sighed. Sometimes he wondered if the term Teen Titans was given to them because of the immense immaturity teens have rather than because they were protectors of an entire city at such a young age.

"I mean speed, strength, fighting style or anything among that." He said, rather impatiently.

"Speed? He might the Flash's match!" Exclaimed Beastboy, throwing his hand on the air for drama. He was, of course, exaggerating.

Robin tried _really_ hard not to slap Beastboy right then and there.

"Actually." Cyborg piped in, drawing all the attention towards him. "I activated the speedometer on my cybernetic eye during one of his runs. It was seventy-one miles per hour. If pushed, my guess is he could go as far as seventy-four miles, but not more."

With finally something to work on, Robin's frustration was once again locked up inside him.

"Ok, we have a limit to how fast he can go." Robin muttered. "What about strength?" He asked looking around at his friends. "And Garfield, please don't say he could be Superman's match otherwise I'll be forced to blow off all the teeth Metatron missed from your mouth."

Beastboy remained silent, knowing full well not to test Robin once he had called him by his entire first-name.

"I can easily tell you he was stronger than me." Cyborg commented, looking at his arm while remembering the power struggle he had had with Metatron at the beginning of the fight: Beastboy was the only reason Cyborg had won it.

"Yes. When he kicked me on the gut not only was I blown clear, but it also felt like I was wearing no armor at all." Robin agreed.

"I do not believe he is stronger than me." Starfire muttered, looking thoughtful. "His attacks were powerful, yes, but when he used fists, they failed to seriously hurt me, only managing to dazzle me."

"Yeah, and we all saw just how much effort he put on that blow that threw you against the building." Commented Beastboy.

_Now _we have a meeting, thought Robin allowing his mood to lift a bit.

"Now that you guys mention it…" Cyborg started. "What _were _those gold things Metatron was throwing at us?"

"Good question." Robin pondered on this. "I doubt he is Tamarenian or has some mixed blood with that species, so that being his version of Starbolts is out of the picture."

"They are energy releases." Raven stated simply.

The voice made everyone jump; the girl had been so quiet everyone forgot she was here. Raven smiled at this: She liked drawing back on these meeting and just listen to her teammates, except when she had something important to be said.

"Excuse me?" Robin questioned, being the first to get over the little surprise.

"Energy releases." Raven repeated. "It's his own body energy taken to solid form, both painful at contact and fast in movement; many demons are able to summon these kind of attacks. In a way, those really _are _Metatron's version of a Starbolt; they work in the same theory: They grow powerful depending of how much energy he puts on them. The only difference is that Starfire uses anger to summon her attacks, he uses energy."

"Yes, I see what you mean…" Starfire said. "Also, this must mean that if we tire him out enough, he will lose energy and…"

"Exactly." Raven nodded, already knowing what the alien was going for.

Robin stayed silent as he gathered all this information.

"Ok then." He finally said. "We've covered strengths, speed and his attacks. Anything else you may want to add, guys?" He asked, looking around.

"…He _did _save that kid." Beastboy commented shyly.

All eyes were on him now, which made him uncomfortable.

"I mean, he can't be all bad." He added, shifting on his seat.

"They never are when it comes to Slade's apprentice." Robin replied simply. "Meeting adjourned."

"What do we do now?" Cyborg asked, before anyone could leave.

"Same as always: Wait for them to make the next move and be ready for it." Robin answered.

His team nodded slightly before leaving the room.

"Hey, wanna play some games? You could use the relaxation." Cyborg offered.

"I'll be there in a minute" Robin answered. "Play with Gar first, I'll call winner."

"Ah, so you'll play me then." Cyborg deduced.

"I HEARD THAT!" Beastboy yelled from the stairs that lead to the game room.

Cyborg and Robin shared a small smile before the former left the room as well.

Finally alone, Robin pondered on their latest fight for a minute. One single kid had managed to temporally disable half the team. Of course, the same had happened when Robin had been on his shoes, but still… He was going to need as much information on Metatron as possible if he wanted to be ready by next time they meet.

That thought was what convinced him to snap out a black communicator from his utility belt before turning the signal on. He waited a couple of seconds before he got a response.

"Oracle." Though the distorted voice that echoed in the room leave nothing to be recognized, the boy wonder knew that the one on the other line was female.

"Want a challenge?" Robin answered through a smirk.

* * *

Slade wasn't much of a decorator. If you think about it, not many of the truly dangerous villains are.

Therefore, Metatron's given room couldn't have been plainer: Gray metallic wall with no windows, a bed and a desk with a computer in it. But none of it made any difference to the kid in any way, currently his full attention was directed at the computer's screen.

"How are you holding up?" He asked warmly.

The girl's bright red eyes dimmed slightly, but she smiled nonetheless.

"Hanging in there." She answered cheerfully. Metatron could instantly tell she was faking it, which caused him to hate himself more.

"I'm sorry this happened." He muttered silently, looking at the ground.

The girl on the computer screen didn't answer as her expression darkened as well.

"It's ok…" She finally said, unsure of what else _could _be said.

Through his sadness, Metatron chuckled.

"That's the best you got?" He asked. The girl smiled in return, a legitimate smile. "You really need to work on your peep-talks, Aura."

"You are one to talk!" Now it was Aura's turn to chuckle, her big pointy almost hare-like ears folded a bit as they always did when she laughed. "You were never Mister Sunshine, you know!"

"I'm a guy. People will look at me weird if I were 'Mr. Sunshine'." Metatron snapped, giving a smile.

Aura responded with her own fanged grin. Though said fangs were noticeably sharp, she pulled it off on a way that she came out looking cute. Her ebony hair with long golden highlights might have aided on that.

"Ah, the gay jokes. I missed those." She said with a wink.

"Don't get _too _acquainted with them." Metatron replied.

Aura only laughed for a short while as a response. Then all was silent again… The reality of their situation had once again kicked in, not leaving them in the mood for jokes. Metatron sadly stared at the girl he had gladly given up so much for, and yet her situation didn't look much better.

The girl tried to be strong for him, but in the end she wasn't a fighter… She was fragile… In some ways, even weak.

Which is why she said what she did.

"When am I getting out of here, Adam?"

The one being consulted raised his head to meet the girl, sad and unknowing.

"I…" Metatron started, before realizing the girl's face was no longer in front of him and he was greeted by his reflection on the computer screen. His reflection… And Slade's.

Who was standing behind him.

"Wha?" Metatron asked, a bit confused.

"It's time for your training." Slade announced. "Follow me."

With that, he started to walk off. Though his apprentice did not follow.

"Wait a minute!" The aforementioned apprentice yelled. "Our deal was I had ten minutes to talk to her! I've only used five!"

"You've failed your mission." Slade hissed, making the kid flinch uncomfortably: The memory of what Slade had done to him for 'failing' was still clear on his mind. "That alone cut back the time you had for your little chat."

"But…"

"Follow _me._" Slade repeated, a lot more menacingly, before then he continued his pace.

In the end, Metatron could do nothing else but to obey him. Punching the wall out of frustration, he slowly began following the man he had reluctantly come to call master.

* * *

"HA! This game is _mine_, lil' man!" Cyborg shouted, as his racecar pushed Robin's out of track.

Obviously, they were on the game room. And as predicted, Cyborg had beaten Beastboy on the previous game and was now trying to do the same with Robin, who looked annoyed at the fact that he was losing.

"Glorious, Victor!" Starfire cheered, as she usually did. "Sorry Tim…" She added, always trying to make everyone happy.

Raven was not in the game room: She had retired to her room shortly after this little tournament had begun, not really her thing. And Beastboy was currently mourning on the corner about how he had (once again) lost.

"ARGH!" Robin shouting, struggling to get back on the race with Cyborg. He was catching up, but the robotic hybrid will not let him pass.

"Whatcha gonna do now, wonder boy? Whatcha gonna do now, huh?" Cyborg taunted, seeing the finish line was near.

Robin growled in annoyance. _People can be so immature…_

Then again, so could he.

"Victor Stone, you are hereby expelled from the Teen Titans!" Robin suddenly shouted.

Cyborg dropped his game controller.

"I am!" He asked, looking horrified.

Robin's race car crossed the finish line.

"WHO-HOO!" The masked teen cheered, getting up into the couch and doing a dance you would have expected from Beastboy. "OH YEAH! WHO DA MAN! WHO DA MAN! …Oh, wait. No you are not, my mistake." The last bit had been directed to Cyborg.

The latter looked pissed.

"Congratulations, Tim!" Starfire yelled.

"Stupid spiky-haired know-it-all…" Cyborg fumed. "Gar, get your green butt over here so I can beat you!"

"Right on!" Beastboy shouted before realizing what he was saying. "Hey, you are not always gonna beat me!"

"Shut up and play." Cyborg said, throwing a controller at him.

The slight beeping caught everyone's attention.

"What is that noise?" Starfire asked, looking around.

"It's me." Robin answered, holding up the same black communicator from earlier. "I'll be right back, guys."

He left the remaining Titans to their games as he answered.

"What do you got?" Robin muttered to the device.

"Not enough." Oracle's mechanically distorted voice answered. "Most of this kid's past has been erased. Slade Wilson has taken a lot of new precautions with this one."

"So you have nothing?" Robin asked, understandably surprised: Oracle always had something. On everyone.

"I got a match for his name." The hacker answered. "Adam Matthews, 19. Those pictures your robot friend took were what helped me the most."

"Anything else?"

"Only that he's a nomad." Oracle muttered. "Never really stayed on one place for more than six months: Manhattan, Washington, Metropolis, Wisconsin, Metropolis, Florida, Keystone, Gotham… I haven't been able to trace his source yet, but I know the last place he stayed was Jump City."

"Think that's how Slade found him?"

"Doubt it. The man thinks these things through, he probably had his eye set on Matthews before he attacked you."

"Hmm… How did he move from place to place so easily?" Robin pondered to himself. The Oracle answered the question for him.

"My guess is he has wealth." She said. "Probably not gained illegally, otherwise Batman would have gotten a hold on him when he stayed on Gotham."

"Did he do _anything _while in Gotham?" Robin asked.

"Nothing whatsoever. He stayed out of everyone's way and didn't commit acts to use his powers for self-gain or heroism."

"How do you know it's the same person then? The name is common. It could have been anyone."

"Hard to find someone with that eye color." Oracle stated matter-of-factly.

"That's enough to convince you?" Robin felt a bit incredulous.

"No, but the database in Batman's computer is." Oracle answered. "He likes to keep track of every 'potential-threat' that takes a step on his city."

Robin's eyes widened.

"You _hacked _into Batman's computer?" He asked.

"Yeah, right." The other answered smiling. "I can. But didn't need to, he told me. In fact, he's right next to me, staring… It's freaking me out."

"Yeah, he'll do that." Robin smiled.

"He says that you have to find as many weaknesses as you can on the Matthews kid." Oracle said, passing the message.

"I know…" Robin muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Also, that you must work on improving your skills for the next time he calls you." Oracle added.

"I know…" Robin groaned.

"_And _that it's not really healthy for a kid your age to be having so many of _those _dreams focused on an alien girl." Oracle finished.

"I…" Robin started before coming to an abrupt stop. "……That's just creepy."

"Isn't it?" Oracle nodded.

"Yes… Well… Call me if you find anything else…" Robin muttered uncomfortably.

"Will do, kid." Oracle responded.

"Robin out." Shutting off the communicator, Robin wandered off to meet his friends, hoping none of them would question the blush on his face.

* * *

"I have to what!" Metatron yelled, outraged.

"I believe I made myself clear." Slade muttered. "Had you not failed, you wouldn't have to do this."

The apprentice stared.

"Feel free to use whatever tactics you may want, Metatron." Slade added. "Dismissed."

Sighing, Metatron readied himself for his mission.

At least this time he had a (small) plan.

* * *

Robin wasn't sure what had just happened.

Fifteen minutes after returning to his friends, the alarm had gone off: Another breakout to the Jump City Jail had occurred, caused by a fast-moving teen who Robin quickly identified as Metatron by description.

The team of young heroes soon rushed to the scene and was surprised to find that Metatron was nowhere to be found: Instead, it was a group knocked out guards and wrecked walls what greet them.

That, and a very angry Otto Von Furth, better known to the world as Plasmus.

"Damnit, you'd think that after that incident with Cinderblock, they would have had the decency to pump up the security on this place!" Beastboy commented, as he managed to yet again evade a swing from the enraged giant blob.

"Well, they did!" Cyborg yelled back, as he tried to subdue Plasmus with his sonic-cannon. "It just so happens that Metatron, like the average person on the street, is smarter than Cinderblock!"

Not long after he was finished when Plasmus, having formed a hole on his stomach from where Cyborg's attack was passing through, punched him into the metallic wall next to Raven.

"Well, that certainly didn't look painful." The goth girl commented, deciding to check on her companion before assaulting.

After all, Starfire's rampage against the creature seemed to be doing a good job.

Plasmus roared before showering the alien girl with the muck-substance that was his body, causing her to fall. Robin took the chance a jumped into its back while Plasmus focused on Starfire.

"Metatron went straight for Plasmus, no one else was broken out of their cells!" He yelled, searching his belt as the deformed creature tried to shake him off. "He must have a reason!"

"Maybe he just wants to piss us off!" Rhinoceros Beastboy replied while tackling Plasmus with force, bringing it down temporally.

Robin jumped off the creature and into Beastboy, doubting the latter was right. The remaining Titans joined the pair just as Plasmus started to get up.

"Titans, can you handle this one without me?" Robin asked, throwing a couple of ice disks at it, freezing its entire chest.

"Yeah… Why?" Cyborg asked, confused.

"I have a lead. Take him down, guys." Was the answer, as the leader left them.

Now all of them looked confused.

"Dude, what the hell?" Beastboy questioned.

So very confused that Plasmus' roar made them jump. The Titans turned around in time to see the monster shrug off its ice prison and regrew its missing limbs.

"We'll worry about it later, Titans, GO!" Cyborg commanded, aiming his cannon at the creature and firing.

* * *

The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. As cliché as the saying was, it does seem to apply to Metatron, as he swiftly entered the Wayne Industries splinter section once again unnoticed after knocking all the guards out.

Now, he was staring at the still unnamed device he had failed to steal on his last mission while turning all the alarms off, not wanting to take any chances this time. The task was finished easily enough, causing the same question on security Beastboy had uttered to be repeated on his head.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, I suppose." The apprentice murmured, before extending his arm to seize the gadget.

He jumped back with a gasp when a bladed red blur stopped him from doing so. Licking the small cut that was now on his palm, he turned around.

"Should have known that giant mud pile wouldn't be enough to keep all of you busy." He growled as Robin stepped out of the shadows. "How'd you get here so fast?"

"Amazing how much time you can save when you are actually allowed in the facility." Robin responded, indicating he had a key for every room in the building. He then took out his staff.

"DON'T." Metatron warned. "Just don't."

"You don't actually think I'll let you walk away from here without a fight, do you?" Robin asked with a hint of amusement on his voice.

"Superheroes never tend to do the smart thing." The other shrugged. "But if you fight me like this, it will just be too much."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you are hurt." Metatron remarked, pointing to his cheek and arm. "And you are limping. You are at a clear disadvantage."

Robin paused for a couple of seconds: He was right. Once again, Robin had let his anger and pride get the best of him.

Like with Slade.

"You were injured too, you know." The Titan leader commented. "You hardly walked out unharmed from our fight yesterday."

"I'm a demon, kid." Metatron smirked. "Most of my wounds heal overnight."

This was something that caught Robin by surprise, and his face showed it as the grip on his staff loosened.

"Don't take it the wrong way, but you are really green when it comes to being a leader of a team of Metahumans." The apprentice continued. "You constantly let your temper command over your common reason: I know you came here alone. Even I would know better and would have brought one of your teammates, seeing as you were barely able to handle me as a team, when you were uninjured."

At the light of this blow to his pride, Robin's surprise was replaced by anger.

"Then again, your team was only formed about three months ago; you are all a bit green." The other continued, looking a bit thoughtful.

"Shut. Up." Robin growled, swinging his staff at Metatron.

Having anticipated the attack, the latter evaded it easily and locked eyes with the enraged Teen Wonder.

"You don't have to fight me, Robin." He stated. "Just let me bail. In your current condition, you can't stop me."

"I CAN TRY!" Robin responded, swiftly swinging out his leg and connecting against Metatron's face, throwing him back.

Bitter victory, as Robin had used his injured leg and had also been harmed by the attack.

Metatron sat up a rubbed the spot on his face where Robin's feet had landed. After groping some blood on it, he got up, clearly deciding he wasn't getting out of here while the hero stood.

"Fine then. Try." He snapped before launching himself at the other teen.

* * *

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

The black-energy-encased wall successfully managed to push Plasmus back and off a semi-suffocated Starfire.

"You ok?" Raven asked, descending next to the Tamarenian girl who was filling her lungs with oxygen.

"All of my attacks just pass through the creature!" Starfire protested, it was rare to see the girl annoyed like this.

Plasmus broke the wall to pieces with a roar. He was quickly silenced by a charging green gorilla, who drove him to the ground.

"Shouldn't we know this guy's weakness by now!" The gorilla demanded while pounding on Plasmus.

The latter threw him into the sky with its arm.

"Beating it to a pulp worked before!" Cyborg yelled, managing to get a powerful hit on Plasmus while the creature was focused on Beastboy. "TITANS, TOGETHER! BRING HIM DOWN!"

A Starbolt, a cannon-blast and some kind of telekinetic attack were all launched at the same time towards Plasmus, seemingly striking its target with an explosion.

"Did we stop him?" Starfire asked, trying to see through the smoke.

Her answer came as Plasmus elongated arm swung for her, making her fall with a groan.

"STAR!" Beastboy yelled in concern, but was cut short by another similar attack crashing against him.

"How the hell?" Cyborg pondered, arming his sonic cannon again.

It appeared that beneath all the brute force, Plasmus had some sense and had been smart enough to shield himself from the attack, using the same metallic wall Raven had used on him earlier. It hadn't protected him entirely of course, but enough to keep him from going unconscious.

"Any ideas?" Raven asked, hunting for something to use for an attack.

"The Sonic Boom worked before… But we need Robin for that. And Bird-boy is off who-knows-where…" Cyborg responded.

"Then I'll guess we'll have to improvise." Raven eyes glowed with power as two thick iron poles bended themselves around Plasmus like snakes.

They wouldn't hold for long.

"I got him!" Triceratops Beastboy screamed, ramming its horns at Plasmus, who roared in pain.

Still within his iron prison, Plasmus seized the green dinosaur by the head and threw him into the horizon.

"I DON'T GOT HIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" Beastboy yelled, reverting to his human form before crashing on the ground with a 'thud'.

"Well, that was one plan…" Cyborg muttered.

"And three to go." Raven said as she flew above Plasmus. "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

A black-energy wave rose around both the girl and the monster, consuming them whole. There was a moment of silence interrupted only by the muffled roars coming from the cocoon, and then the energy exploded as Raven collapsed to the ground, Plasmus on top of her.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Starfire yelled, tackling the creature before it had the chance to reach it friend. "ARGH!"

The righteous anger on alien built up into a massive Starbolt, which she rammed against the Plasmus with another powerful scream.

"BOOYAH!" Cyborg shouted, before shooting a blast from his cannon as well. Both Starbolt and sonic-blast fused in midair before shattering against a mildly confused Plasmus, who didn't get a chance to protect himself this time.

To avoid another surprise-attack, the dust created by the blast was quickly dispersed by the flapping wings of a green pterodactyl: Beastboy had come back. Once the view had cleared, the Titans found no Plasmus. On his place, there was a skinny man on his underwear, sleeping.

Otto Von Furth was back on his human form. Starfire gave out a loud cheer at the sight of their victory.

"Well, it's no Sonic Boom, but it does the job." Cyborg said, smiling at the alien.

"We are victorious!" Starfire smiled back.

"Yes, but at what cost?" Beastboy replied dramatically. "Nothing was worth the loss today… Our friend… Raven."

Silence.

"Beastboy, I'm ok. I was just dazzled, not dead." Raven commented, floating next to the green changeling.

"Aw, man! Raven, quit ruining my moment!" Beastboy protested. His teammates proceeded to smack themselves on the forehead.

"Ok, a team of specialist will be coming to pick up Plasmus soon." Cyborg announced, shutting off the communicator on his arm he had used to summon said people. "In the meantime, maybe we should try and find fearless."

"Where did he go anyway?" Beastboy asked.

At that moment, the communicator all titans had stated beeping their theme song.

"Speak of the devil." Cyborg commented before answering. "Robin, where--?"

"Jump City's Wayne Enterprises, if any of you have knowledge of medicine or healing abilities, I recommend you get here. Now." The voice interrupted. It wasn't Robin's.

"Metatron!" Beastboy gasped.

"Where's Robin!" Starfire demanded, sounding alarmed.

"I just told you. Don't any of you kids pay attention?" Metatron responded. "Wayne Enterprises. Get there. Robin's not in immediate danger, but he is hurt. Metatron out."

The line went dead.

Within seconds, all Titans were on the move.

* * *

Metatron hadn't lied, he had no reason to. So as fast as the Titans had been to come to their leader's aid, they hadn't need to: The only thing that had been seriously wounded on Robin was his pride. Raven had had to use her powers to untie the grappling hook that had held him captive and hanging from the edge of the Wayne Industries building, Metatron being the only reason for this.

Now Timothy Drake sat at on his bed, back in Titans Tower, reliving the fight and barely believing he had been brought down so easily. Once again ignoring the fact that he had been handicapped, he grew angry at himself like usual; especially since this time he hadn't even been able to stop Metatron from stealing the gadget.

Another blow at his aforementioned wounded pride had been that Metatron had been right: He _should _have brought back up, he _should _have known of his demonic-inherited advantages (specially considering one of his teammates was a demon as well) and he _should _had been ready for anything that might had been thrown at him.

Also, he should have noticed he wasn't alone in the room five minutes ago.

"How long have you been here?" He asked the darkness.

"Long enough to study your body language and know you were easily beaten." The dark caped figure answered, the darkness of the room covering everything but his black armored boots… And the two small white slits that were his eyes.

"Aren't _you_ the great detective?" Robin hissed heatedly: He was NOT in the mood for his criticism.

The figure didn't look perturbed. Instead, he simply reached into his cape and took out a simple folder, which he tossed at Robin's feet. Curiosity in his eyes (he had taken his mask off), the Boy Wonder opened the folder and was slightly surprised to find a picture of Metatron, wearing street clothes, inside, along with a couple of papers and another picture featuring a small girl whose features were blurry.

"I thought Barbara said there was no more information on him." Robin said, lifting his head to meet the gaze of the man before him.

"There wasn't." Batman answered. "I dug that up from an underworld criminal with connections with Slade Wilson. It is possible that he was informed of Adam Matthews' existence through said criminal."

"Father, Nicholas A. Matthews. Mother, Lauren Constantine…" Robin read out loud. "Both found dead inside their apartment in Philadelphia on March 2nd, 1995… That was six years ago…"

(A/N: As it was already explained in chapter 01, my fic takes place during 2001 for reasons later explained.)

"Yes, there was a lot of controversy in this case." Batman explained. "The man's body was found headless. The woman's had been beaten to death. And there were multiple claw marks on the walls."

Robin stared.

"Are you saying he _killed_ his parents?" He asked.

"I'm saying there's a chance he might have." The Batman replied.

"What about the autopsy? Did they find anything strange on the parents?" Robin asked next, remembering Metatron was a demon.

"The male's body passed as human." Batman replied, already knowing what he meant. "The woman's disappeared shortly after the bodies were discovered; there was no opportunity to operate on her."

Batman let the implication hang in the air.

"But why would he want the corpse?" Robin pondered.

"I am not sure." Came the response.

"Hmm… Anything else?"

"Two things." Batman said. "Firstly, all his abilities, physical or otherwise, are not completely dependent on his energy as your friend Raven speculated, only partially. The true source of all his powers is his body heat. Take out the heat factor and he's as human as me or you."

Robin didn't pay attention, something else had distracted him.

"Wait a minute, how do you know what Rave--?"

"Lastly," Batman continued as if Robin had said nothing, "the girl." Batman pointed to the remaining picture.

Considering for the first time that his mentor might have their tower bugged, Robin decided to let it go, knowing well that he wouldn't get any answers. So he studied said picture, managing to make out the red, glowing cat-like eyes and long curly hair with golden streaks resembling Metatron's. Even through the blurriness of the photograph, Robin knew she couldn't be any more than eleven.

He also realized what his mentor already knew.

"Sister…"

"Aura Matthews." Batman specified. "Vanished from the crime scene along with her brother. She moved along with him on his travels, including Jump City. She disappeared two days before Adam Matthews took on the Metatron persona."

Now it all fell together for Robin.

"Kidnapped." He thought out loud, staring at the picture. "And Slade is using her to make sure Metatron follows him."

He looked up at Batman, searching for an agreeing gesture… And found that he was once again alone. Robin looked around just in case, not really surprised at the fact that his mentor had disappeared him so easily.

He gave up his search after a minute, knowing that by now he was probably halfway to Gotham already.

* * *

"Here."

The sound of the metal falling on the ground echoed throughout the room.

"Well done, apprentice." Slade muttered, staring at the device on his feet. "I see you had an encounter with your predecessor."

Metatron was already ignoring him and making his way to his room. Slade smirked at this: He always picked the rude ones.

There had been no battle won today, Metatron knew. There had just been a fight for the senseless desire of violence between men.

A desire excused by a just cause.

_Aura…_

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

_Updated... An hour late, but still updated. I apologize :P_


	4. Chapter 03: Coldblooded Monster

**Chapter 03: Cold-blooded Monster**

"ARGH!" Robin screamed, as he was thrown back by the shockwave of a car explosion. Two days had passed since Batman's brief visit and, though still a little numb, the boy wonder had pretty much completely recovered from his injuries. Until now.

Metatron jumped out of the fire and continued running, S.T.A.R. Labs' latest experiment under his arm. You can probably put two and two together to find out what's going on here.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Cyborg screamed, actually launching his hand towards the kid like a grappling hook.

Metatron simply jumped and used his claw to cut through the rope connecting both metallic limbs. It worked, but it didn't stop Beastboy, who as an ostrich jumped and slammed both feet against the kid's chest; throwing him back into a black-energy covered concrete cube, sealing him within.

"Got him!" Beastboy cheered while reverting back to human. He obviously didn't notice the struggling expression on Raven's face… But what the hell made him miss the thundering sounds coming from the cube?

Beastboy's lack of attention span aside, the cube predictably (at least by Raven) exploded into dust, releasing a really pissed Metatron.

"Damn it, don't you guys go to the bathroom or something!" He bellowed as he bluntly kicked a still dazzled Raven on the face without a sign of remorse.

"RAVEN!" Beastboy shouted at the sight of his falling friend.

Metatron took the chance and punched the green teen to kingdom come. He then narrowly evaded a sonic blast that went past his left ear. It was time to focus on Cyborg.

Starbolt to the chest. Maybe not Cyborg…

"AHHHHHHHHH-YAH!" Starfire yelled as she flew down and slammed a fist into her adversary's gut.

Said adversary let out a strange noise people tend to make when the air had been blown out of them. But he had no time to relieve his lungs: Cyborg tackled him head-on with a 'BOOYAH!'

After crashing against a randomly-placed tree, Metatron managed to get up with a groan. And found all Titans cornering him on a semi-circle.

"Give up yet?" Robin questioned with a smirk.

To his surprise, Metatron returned the gesture.

"Nope." He answered as both hands, which were pressing against the concrete, glowed on a golden light. Robin eyes' widened as he recognized the trap.

"TAKE COVER!" He shouted just as Metatron blew up the ground bellow all of them, throwing the Titans back and into the sewer tunnels. They were soon followed by numerous chunks of rocks from the concrete, those were sure to keep them busy for a couple of minutes.

Metatron, device still in hand, jumped out of the fire-zone looking satisfied. His satisfaction quickly turned into shock when a passing bullet narrowly missed his head. Losing his balance, he fell to the ground with a crash and immediately started searching for the source of the attack. A 'gulp' escaped his mouth when he found it.

A thick wall of heavily-armed Jump City's finest was in front of him… And another one probably somewhere behind him as well. They were always here in case the Metahumans failed.

He was not going anywhere. And the Titans would be making their way back from the sewers in a couple of minutes.

"Drop the device and put your hands where we can see them." Came the megaphone-enhanced voice of one of the cops, safely hidden behind his police car.

The kid remained still, unsure on what to do next.

"DROP THE DEVICE AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM." The cop repeated. "OBEY OR WE WILL SHOOT."

"Is my life some kind of magnet for heavily enhanced teenage drama?" Metatron asked himself before tucking the device on his back.

"PUT THE DEVICE DOWN! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

Metatron turned to the man ordering him.

"I CAN'T."

Silence.

"FIRE!" The order came.

Instantly the bullets flew at Metatron, who in response shot out both golden-glowing hands and fired twin energy blasts. Said blasts reached the bullet rain and their heat managed to melt most of the bullets, making them fall harmlessly into the ground.

Though when it comes to bullets, 'most' is not nearly good enough. Some _did _passed through the blast and painfully scratched (or hit, but mostly scratch) Metatron on his legs, arms, chest and face. But the damage could have been a lot worse; something Metatron obviously didn't seem to care as he fell to his knees with a muffled scream, holding his injured limbs in pain.

More silence. Especially from the stupefied policemen.

"I… Cannot believe… That actually worked…" Metatron gasped with somewhat of a smile, trying to hide how tired he actually felt now: Making a blast powerful enough to melt and stop more than two hundred bullets flying towards you at max speed was NOT an easy task. Especially when you are trying to avoid 'hitting' anything _but _the bullets.

Still, the cops were already recuperating from the surprise. And some of them seemed to come to the conclusion that this kid probably couldn't pull a stunt like that again.

Something Metatron already knew as he dashed towards the cops, who were too surprised to react, and jumped past all of them, sometimes using their heads as help.

He had barely reached the end of the wall when the explosion reached his ears: The Titans were back. This only made him speed up his pace even more.

Never noticing that someone else aside from the Titans and the Police was following him.

Once Metatron had run about half a mile, he used the built-up momentum to jump and take flight. With his recently grown bat-wings of course.

He managed to go twenty more feet before the Starbolts started being fired closely at his heels. Luckily for him, it was the middle of the day: Starfire had to watch her shoots so she wouldn't hit civilians, which made them easier to avoid.

His luck ran out when he encountered Cyborg's highly more accurate and well-placed blasts. Looking over his shoulder, Metatron saw the machine hybrid was slowly gaining in on him, being on the back a Beastboy ostrich. Not far from him were the flying Raven and Starfire, the latter had stopped her attacks after realizing she was making more property damage than anything else; then came Robin on his R-cycle and last came the police cars, tailing on the kid.

"Always have to be the center of attention, don't you?" Metatron scolded himself. It cost him: Cyborg fired and hit his legs, immediately causing him to collapse with a scream, dragging most of the pavement along with his body as he went.

He got up shakily in time to meet the ostrich's feet against his chest. Again. Metatron landed on his butt with a gasp as the bird reverted back to human form, and his rider aimed his cannon at him.

"End of the line." Cyborg muttered.

The remaining members of his team were closing in. Metatron shrugged.

"For you." He stated. Quickly reaching on his back, he grabbed the device he had stolen, a metallic glove, and put it on.

Cyborg gasped and tried to stop him, but Metatron activated the device before the hero could take one step forward. Instantly, all people before Metatron collapsed to their knees while grabbing their ears in pain; and though some managed to stop in time, most police cars started loosing control and crashed against walls, trees and such (though the crashes were not strong enough to produce an explosions).

Soon the windows of the buildings around them shattered to smatterings, the concrete on them seeming to be ready to give out as well.

Sonic waves, in case you are wondering. POWERFUL sonic waves. All were being emitted by the device on Metatron's hand, who was one step away of making everyone on the block deaf.

Then the device was deactivated. Though still on his hand in case of later use, he had done what he needed to do to escape. Continued senseless torture on the little heroes was not something he desired nor needed to do.

Said little heroes were getting up slowly, half confused and half pained: That ringing on their ears will probably follow them to the grave… Which only made them angrier.

"Oh, now you gonna pay, foo'!" Cyborg snapped, readying himself to fire and looking a world like Mr. T.

Metatron simply smirked and pointed upwards.

Perhaps not the smartest thing to do, but the Titans followed his finger anyway… And gasped. The buildings at both sides of the street had more than shattered windows: Their foundation was collapsing, dangerously fast. And in result both building were about to collapse in the street like hacked trees.

Robin turned back to face Metatron in anger at what he had intentionally done… And found that the teen had already taken flight and was making his way away from the scene. The teen wonder looked from his adversary to the falling buildings (and the screams coming from them) a couple of times before letting out a scream of exasperation.

"CYBORG, RAVEN, STARFIRE!" He called. "You three try to stop those buildings from collapsing into the ground! At least until people can evacuate the zone! BEASTBOY! You are with me! Get those civilians out of those buildings!"

And with that, each Titan mobilized to their respective position.

As he flew, Metatron found himself surprised at the turn of events. He had hoped Robin would send a couple of his teammates to the civilian aid, he didn't thought he would send all of them. Again, the 'gift horse' saying popped into his head as he speeded up.

The sirens were heard behind him. Apparently, Jump City had a good, brave, willing and maybe suicidal police department.

From their cars, they all fired at the fleeing Metatron with amazing accuracy as the kid was forced to do crazy evasive maneuvers. The kid frantically looked for an escaped route. He found one straight ahead. On the bridge connecting to big chunks of land in Jump City, separated by a thick river.

He flew down as he neared the construction, the sonic-wave generator still on his hands. Landing at the entrance of the bridge, he pressed his hand to the ground once again and waited.

The police reached him in no time… But the device was activated once they were in close sight. The entire area where Metatron crouched suddenly collapsed into the river because of the sonic pressure, ultimately denying the passage of any an all police cars through it.

Realizing what had happened; all the cars came to an abrupt halt, some barely managing to do so. The ones on the front row got out and glared daggers at Metatron, who simply smiled at them from his place in mid-air.

His smile quickly banished as the cops pulled out their guns and started firing, forcing Metatron to fly out of their range quickly… And right into the windshield of a helicopter behind him.

A Police helicopter.

Metatron goggled at the chopper in shock, not even sure where it came from.

"OH, ARE YOU PLANNING TO MAKE MY EVERY LIVING MOMENT A MISERY!" He suddenly shouted at the sky to who-knows-who.

(Yes.)

"JUST FUCKING PEACHY, THEN!" He yelled crazily as he turned around and flew away from the chopper.

Said machine instantly started assaulting, its thick and big bullets making noticeable dents on Metatron's outfit as he moved around trying to evade them. He tried to use the sonic-wave generator on it a couple of times by turning around in mid-flight and firing, but quickly realized he was nowhere near fast enough to do this and evade the bullets at the same time; So he was now stuck to flying forward will blindly firing the device behind him, which did not work well either: It is very hard to get an accurate shot in that position.

After ten minutes of trying the same maneuver, he finally gave up on it and realized that he couldn't escape the chopper. He had to hit it head on. Turning around again, he flew straight for the machine, narrowly evading most of the bullets thrown at him. When he hastily landed on the helicopter's nose, the pilots stared at him in awe.

"You guys are putting up a better fight that those damn kids!" He yelled at them, raising a fist. "So don't blame me for this!"

He then slammed the fist against and through the helicopter's nose. Both pilots could only stare in shock as they started losing control of the flying machine, the alarms ringing on their ears.

Metatron jumped back into the still damaged bridge even as the helicopter lost altitude; as he took out the device from his hand, he wondered why was it that the pilots weren't jumping out.

'Probably rookies.' He reasoned as when he saw the helicopter fall past the bridge and into the river, finding no remorse within himself at the policemen's demise.

Even in the water, the helicopter quickly combusted into flames after a small explosion. Out of a small token of appreciation, Metatron walked to the edge of the bridge in hopes to give his last respects to the men who were, after all, just trying to do the 'right' thing.

He was very surprised when he wasn't able to locate two blackened carcasses that had once been bodies after searching the ship and jumping back into the bridge.

By now, Metatron had gotten used to the shouts coming from the cops and passing cars: he'd heard them so much it was now like they weren't even there, and he was able to feel puzzled without any inconvenience. Where had the pilots gone? He was pretty sure they hadn't jumped, and even if they had, their bodies should have landed around here. So where'd…?

One of the pilots landed ten feet from him with a grunt, making Metatron jump in surprise. The second one soon followed, both alive and well save for their obvious annoyance at being dropped like that. Metatron blinked in confusion a couple of times as the men who were supposed to be dead got up, dizzily. His eyes finally started going upwards, searching from the source of wherever the men had been dropped from. In the light of day, Metatron spotted him easily enough.

And realized in just how much trouble he was in right then.

Hanging from one of the support-poles of the bridge was a caped and masked dark-looking man. He had used a _very _long grappling-hook to descend close enough to the concrete so he could drop the pilots, whom he had obviously saved, without harming them. The man let go of the grapple and landed gracefully between Metatron and the pilots, his cape majestically falling to his sides, wrapping around his body like a robe.

Metatron could only back away in hesitation and, though he would never admit it, some fear as Gotham's Dark Knight straightened himself before casting a piercing gaze upon him through his blank slits. Somehow, Metatron could easily tell he wasn't happy.

"Get to a safe place, now." Batman ordered, clearly directing this to the pilots, who instantly obliged. Through his worry, Metatron couldn't help but feel a Déjà vu feeling: It was pretty much the same scene as with him and the child he had saved two days ago.

There was a moment of silence as both fighters studied each other.

"…What are you doing here?" Metatron asked hesitantly.

Batman remained silent.

"This is Florida." The other continued. "Gotham is very far from here… Shouldn't _you _be as well?"

Silence still.

"This is your kid's turf, not yours!" Metatron almost yelled, desperate to get some sign indicating that Batman was listening.

"I check on Robin frequently." Batman finally answered quietly.

"You mean you don't trust him, right?" Metatron accused.

"I do not believe he's ready for the responsibility that comes with being the leader of a Metahuman team." Batman corrected.

"Bullshit." Metatron growled. His claws, ears, and fangs were now plainly visible. "What the fuck do you want with me?"

"I will take you to a proper Metahuman-holding facility." Batman replied. All his defenses were probably ready for an attack, but he betrayed nothing of it.

Metatron scoffed at this.

"And I suppose I'll go peacefully." He snapped. "This is not your city; you don't make the rules here. Get back to Gotham and let the Titans handle me."

"I did." Batman said. "And then Robin sent his entire team towards a falling building when only three were enough, thousands of civilians were put on the line of fire and, had I not intervened, two people would have lost their lives."

"Comes with their job description." Metatron smirked, referring to the last one. "And all things considered, the losses would have been acceptable."

"No loss is acceptable." Batman growled, momentarily letting Metatron know how he really felt about all this. Metatron shuddered and took a step back involuntarily.

Metatron quickly ran through his options and found escape through brute force was basically it. And with Batman, that might not be the best way to go: The man had knowledge of virtually every style of martial arts known to man, woman and probably a few weird alien things.

But when all other options are unavailable…

"HAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The kid yelled as he released one of his massive blasts at Batman; which connected, creating a wall of smoke at impact.

Metatron moved quickly towards his adversary; jumping over the smoke cloud, he landed on the spot he had seen Batman last… And found the man waiting for him. He was so surprised, he wasn't able to evade Batman's fist as it connected with his face, throwing him back by a large distance.

You see, dear reader, what Metatron didn't know is that both Batman's and Robin's cape (being ten times harder than steel) can provide great protection: Batman had simply wrapped the cape around himself to use it as a shield from the blast. Too bad Robin didn't think of that in chapter two, huh?

Metatron wasn't too happy about Batman's quick thinking. Groaning, he got up while rubbing his nose, which was pretty close to being broken. His breathing certainly wasn't going so good, to put it mildly. And it was about to get worse as two small metal balls fell at his feet and started releasing thick smoke that seared his lungs.

Coughing, he felt around frantically in search of his opponent. The smoke was so thick it was blinding him, making him an easy target.

Batman was aware of this and started delivering blow at random body parts, the tactic being so Metatron never knew where he was coming from. Finally, a particularly hard knee to the stomach made him fall on all fours as the smoke slowly dissipated around him, revealing Batman to his side.

Metatron attempted a low kick, but Batman saw it coming and jumped out of the way. Letting out a scream of frustration, the kid leapt to his feet hastily and started lashing out with numerous wild punches at the man, who evaded them easily, which angered Slade's apprentice even more.

"STAY!" He roared as he slashed out with his claws, attempting and missing to scratch his face. "**_STILL!_**" He swung out a kick.

Batman grabbed the kick in mid-air, shocking Metatron. Going with the momentum of the swing, Batman turned and tossed Metatron face-first into the ground.

"This is futile. I suggest you give up." Batman advised, still holding Metatron's leg.

The kid didn't listen. Instead, he twisted himself on the ground and turned around, even as he used his other foot to slam a brutal blow into Batman's chin, making him stumble back in mild-surprise and pain.

Metatron did not take the time to take pride in this, as he jumped to his feet before slashing his claws at Batman's chest, managing to make a small dent in his thick armor. Batman took another step back: though it hadn't hurt, it had pressed him backwards. Joining his hands in a hammer position, Metatron moved forward and slammed his fists on the man's chest.

That DID hurt: Batman was powerfully shoved back, almost over the lateral edge of the bridge. He clutched his chest in discomfort before straightening back up.

By that time, Metatron was already on the run towards him. He leapt to deliver a blow to the face, but was stopped by a Batarang as it slashed through the outside of his shoulder, cutting deep. Metatron let out a small gasp of surprise as he fell before Batman.

"Don't get overconfident." Batman commented, staring at the fallen teen.

"ARGH!" Metatron roared, getting back up and slashing a clawed hand with amazing speed.

Batman's speed proved to be even MORE amazing as he evaded the blow easily, grabbed Metatron's head and slammed it against his knee. The kid said nothing: He just stumbled backwards and fell flat on his back.

The heavy gasps coming from the teen told Batman it was not over yet; this was but a brief recess. After a couple of moments, Metatron finally managed to recover and get up.

"You… Are not… Gonna… Catch me…" He gasped, taking another fighting stance.

Then his legs gave out on him and he fell on his knees, still gasping for air.

Batman lashed out towards him, ready to end it…

His eyes widened when he noticed the glow coming from Metatron's hands. Another eruption of Metatron's energy followed, destroying part of the bridge where Batman stood. The latter found himself free-falling into the water as Metatron chuckled in tired amusement.

"Amazing how easily can master and student fall for the same trick." He mused.

A rope lashed out towards Metatron and warped itself tightly around him.

"Wha?" Was all Metatron got to say before the laws of physics took effect and the weight of the man at the other end started dragging him down to his recently-made hole. "NO!"

As weakened as he was, Metatron's strength still remained above-human: He managed to jump to his feet and stop almost at the edge of the hole. Growling, he used one of his clawed hands to cut through the rope, removing the weight.

One second too late.

Batman leapt from the hole after having climbed it quickly; hurling six batarangs at Metatron, slicing deep cuts on the teen, who stumbled back with a scream.

Batman landed before him and swung for a kick, a kick Metatron somehow caught earning a (mildly) surprised look from the Bat. Metatron smirked at this. The smirk was beaten off his face when Batman twisted himself and kicked him with his other foot on a Bruce-Lee fashion.

Stumbling back in even greater shock, Metatron turned to face him once more.

"Your overconfidence will be your end." Batman muttered. "You should have struck when you seized my foot, not just stood around grinning like a fool."

"You should talk to your kid about arrogance, not ME!" Metatron yelled as he dove for the man.

Batman threw three oval-shaped artifacts at him before he got close. Metatron recognized them as the explosives Robin had used, but this time he wasn't able to pull the stunt he had made last time: The explosives hit him dead on the chest, blowing half his outfit into scrap.

Metatron came crashing down twenty-five feet from the explosion's zero point, somehow still conscious. Though to him, that wasn't exactly a good thing, seeing that even his hair hurt now.

His ears caught the steps before his eyes saw him. Slowly and painfully, he sat up, not sure he could get up even if he tried, as he locked eyes with the Bat once again.

"Is Aura worth all of this, Adam?" The older man asked.

Metatron, or Adam, stared at him for a moment, not really surprised he knew.

"Yes." He answered simply. "She _is_ my sister, you know. Family, values, blood is thicker then water and all that."

"Hmm. I suppose so." He nodded. "But think, Adam: Slade Wilson can't possibly plan to keep her alive forever."

"I'll wait until he gets overconfident." Metatron replied. "People like him are bound to do so eventually. After that, I'll save Aura and get out of here."

"How do you plan to get to the girl?" Batman questioned.

Silence was his answer.

"You don't know where she is." Batman reasoned.

More silence.

"And Slade Wilson is holding her in a way so clever you are not even sure how you would free her even _if _you knew her whereabouts." He reasoned again, making connections.

More silence, with a hint of hate in Metatron's eyes. Hate at Batman for pointing out so well just how impossible a rescue mission would be. And hate at himself for getting his sister on this mess.

"Well at least you have a plan." Batman said as he narrowed his eyes, not seeming a bit concerned about the look he was receiving.

"Enough." Metatron growled, his frustration giving him enough energy to get up. "We have a fight to finish."

"This was never a fight." Batman corrected. "Just a man trying to control a greedy, selfish and misbehaving child."

Metatron let out an animal-like roar as he tried to get up, but stumbled a bit. He was severely weakened: probably didn't have enough strength to summon wings anymore.

A noise was heard somewhere behind them, causing the look of worry on Metatron's face to increase. He was already seeing the possibility.

"The Titans." Batman confirmed.

There was another moment of silence between the two as the superhero team approached the scene.

Then Metatron suddenly turned around and made a run for it, towards the edge of the bridge; sometimes there are things worth sacrificing honor for. The apprentice had his priorities straight in his mind: conserving his honor and getting caught fighting would signify giving up hope for Aura.

Batman watched him go for a couple of seconds.

Metatron dove for the river.

He made it halfway through before the black metallic rope seized him by his feet. He gasped as Batman pulled him back into the bridge via the rope and slammed him into the concrete once again.

"Sorry, Adam." Batman said, though it was impossible tell whether he meant it or not. "You endangered innocent lives and showed no remorse at almost killing those two individuals. I can't let you go after that."

Metatron hadn't even been able to hear him clearly, as he slowly rolled on the street so he was now facing the sky. Not long passed before blood started coming from his mouth. He tried to get up, but then realized his legs were still bound by the rope.

The Titans were drawing nearer.

"I-I… Escape…" He gasped as he sat up and grabbed the rope with one hand, blood still flowing from his mouth. "…Gotta… _Escape…_" He lashed out his claws at the rope.

After four swings, the rope remained intact: The claws could not cut it.

"…No…" Metatron whispered. Then he found breath. "LET ME GO, YOU COCK-SUCKING **_BASTARD!_**"

Batman looked unperturbed at the insults. But he looked worried when Metatron started moving wildly in attempts to get free, screaming in frustration: If this kept up, Batman feared his heart wouldn't be able to take it.

"SHE'LL **DIE **IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO!" Metatron continued. "LET ME GO, YOU SON OF A BITCH! **_LET ME GO!_**"

Now he knew his heart couldn't take more of this. So Batman did what he had to do. Reaching out to his utility belt, he found a button and pressed it.

"AAAAAAAA**AAAA_AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_**" Metatron bellowed as high-bolts of electricity, coming from the rope, started surging throughout his entire body.

After several seconds, it finally stopped.

Metatron spasmed a couple of times, some froth coming out of the corner of his mouth.

Then… He fell limp. His body remained still, save for a couple of twitches.

Batman stared at the kid.

"I am sorry, Adam."

This time, it was obvious he meant it.

The Titans were close…

* * *

Slade Wilson sat on his lair, observing the scene of his apprentice's fights over interlaced palms. Through his calm composure, rage could be easily seen eradiating from his body... Along with very slight confusion at Batman's appearance.

"Well, Metatron…" He started through clenched teeth. "Strike two."

Right about then was when the slight beeping was heard. The man turned around to it and stared at the computer screen, where a slight red bleep had appeared. He allowed himself a smile after that.

"Then again… _Maybe _not…"

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

Same question, different person: This time, it was Robin who was asking it.

Same answer: Batman ignored the question, he was too busy supervising Cyborg's actions, much to the teen's discomfort. You see, Cyborg was the one in charge of putting the special restraints (which consisted of chains on his ankles and strange, very thick handcuffs that covered his entire hands like mittens) on Metatron, who was still unconscious.

"Batman. What are you doing here?" Robin asked again, through clenched teeth.

Batman continued to ignore. The other Titans were keeping their distance, both a bit intimidated of the Dark Knight and confused at Robin's actions. He seemed _mad_.

"BATMAN."

The man in question waited until Cyborg was finally done before answering.

"I stayed for a short while after our meeting last night. I saw your fight. I saw Metatron attack a police helicopter and cause it to crash. I saw that there was no one around but me to help the pilots. I did so. I encountered Metatron as a result of that." He said serenely.

Robin didn't look happy with his answer. He was about to say something else when a low groan caught his attention.

All eyes then fell on Metatron, who was slowly starting to wake up. When he caught sight of Cyborg, the Titan nearest to him, his eyes snapped open, no longer drowsy. He looked around at all the superheroes in front of him in confusion while trying to get up; that action finally made him notice his restraints.

For a couple of moments, he looked as if he was in deep concentration. Probably trying to break them.

"Don't bother." Cyborg smirked. "Those are made of an extremely powerful metallic alloy. _Superman _would have trouble breaking them."

Metatron's eyes showed some desperation at this fact, knowing he was nowhere near as strong as the Man of Steel. He slowly studied all of the people before him, and found there was probably no way he could get out of this one.

"I will escort him to The Juggernaut." Batman said, moving forward.

Robin stepped in between his mentor and his adversary.

"No." He said simply.

Batman arched an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" He asked, mildly surprised at his protégé's actions as well.

"No." He said simply. The he turned around to his teammates. "Cyborg, you will take Metatron to The Juggernaut in the T-Car. Raven, please go to S.T.A.R. Labs and return the stolen device. The rest of you can go back to the Tower with me or just go out and have fun, your choice. And you…" He turned to Batman, giving him a glare worthy of him. "Get out of our city. Now." His eyes narrowed even more. "Next time it won't be a warning."

All Titans, plus Metatron, froze when Robin turned to his mentor, hardly believing he was ordering Batman around. Batman himself was taken aback, though it wasn't shown in the slightest.

Batman and Robin stared at each other for a couple of moments. Then the former reached to his belt, causing some of the Titans to panic in case of attack. They all looked relieved when Batman simply took out a strange car-alarm-looking device and pressed the one button on it.

Instantly, the Batplane descended from the cloud and behind its owner, before opening its entrance. Batman swiftly jumped in and, within seconds, he was gone.

Several moments of silence followed.

"Dude…" Beastboy finally said. "Are you insane!"

"I think _that _would be an understatement." Raven muttered.

"I gave you orders." Robin said, walking towards Metatron, who still looked stunned at Batman's retreat. "I suggest you follow them."

When Metatron was reached, the apprentice stared at Robin's blank eyelids quizzically.

"Adam Matthews, I hereby place you under arrest…" Robin said. His teammates looked confused at the name: Robin had not had time to tell them about his findings on him yet. "The charges against you are: Theft, aggression, endangerment of innocent human beings, multiple homicide attempts, resisting arrest, property damage of up to more than five million dollars…"

Metatron wasn't that surprised of the accusations as Cyborg helped him to his feet and started escorting him to the T-car.

"…And being the prime suspect of the murders of Nicholas and Lauren Matthews." Robin finished.

Metatron stopped in mid-pace, his ears twitching slightly. Cyborg did not try to force him to move: He was too busy looking lost at the mention of the two new names, their teammates weren't much different. Slowly, though it was probably because of his bindings, the kid in question turned to face Robin, looking shocked and yet… Amused.

"Wait a minute…" He asked, with a tired expression on his eyes. "You think _I_--?"

The blank stare Robin gave him was enough of a response for him. Metatron slowly turned back and entered the car, with some help from Cyborg.

_Idiot._

The car started setting off. Its destination: The Juggernaut, high-security prison for Metahumans. For now.

Robin stared as the T-car flew (it _can _fly) off into the distance and sighed.

"Tim?" The teen turned towards the uncertain voice, Starfire. The girl looked hesitant and worried: She had felt slightly scared at Robin's harsh actions with his mentor. "Are you well?"

The teen wonder stared at her now, not bothering to correct her use of the phrase.

"Yes." He finally said. "It's just…"

But what had it been was never known as Robin was interrupted by the sudden voices rushing towards them. All Titans groaned when they heard it: The media had arrived. Joy.

Raven immediately took the chance to grab the device and teleport out of sight, promptly leaving her teammates behind.

"Traitor." Robin hissed. Then turned to Beastboy. "Gar, I believe it's your turn for Media duty. Kory, mind giving me a lift home?"

"But--!" Beastboy started protesting, but it was too late: He was alone. With the sharks. "AND YOU CALLED RAVEN A TRAITOR!"

"BEASTBOY! WHAT HAS HAPPENED! WHERE YOU ABLE TO CAPTURE THE CRIMINAL KNOWN AS METATRON?" One of the reporters asked as he reached the green kid.

"Er…"

"WERE THERE ANY CASUALTIES?" Asked another.

"Well…"

"BEASTBOY, TODAY YOUR TEAM MADE AS MUCH DAMAGE TO THE CITY AS THE CRIMINAL HIMSELF WHILE TRYING TO APREHEND HIM! HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THIS?"

"HEY! We didn't--!"

"IS THERE ANY TRUTH TO THE RUMORS OF YOU BEING A FORMER PLAYBOY STAR!"

Beastboy could only stare at the last one.

* * *

Quiet ride.

Always makes feel everyone in the car uncomfortable. Metatron was no exception as he shifted oh his seat with the strange anxiety feeling on his diaphragm, the one you get when you are waiting for something. Cyborg did not look all that happy about the eerie silence either as he sighed loudly while driving. Both of them were jumping for a chance to break the ice.

"So…" Metatron finally said. "How far until we reach this… prison?"

"Not that far, I think." The other answered quickly. "It's just on the outskirts of the city. Twenty-five more miles tops."

"Ah. Convenient."

More awkward silence.

Metatron cleared his throat and tried to scratch the tip of his nose… We know how well _that _went considering his 'cuffs'.

"…Your name is Adam, then?" Cyborg asked.

"Oh, yeah. Adam Alexander Matthews, at your service." Metatron answered; attempting to make a bowing gesture, only to be stopped by his restraints once again. "Not sure you are supposed to know that, but hell, you captured me. You deserve that much."

"Actually, it was Batman that captured you." Cyborg pointed out.

Silence.

"…DAMNIT! Now I have to find someway to erase you short-term memory… Say, mind if hit you on the head with on of these things?" The other complained/asked, signaling to the cuffs as the hitting instrument.

"Er… How about we just keep it a secret?" Cyborg suggested. "After all, Batman and Robin already know. So do all who were paying attention to the conversation between you two, which were the entire team… Except maybe Beastboy..."

Metatron chuckled at this.

"Heh. Beastboy… Hey, wasn't he with the Doom Patrol?" He asked.

"Yep. Well, not really part of the team, just lending out a hand here and there." Cyborg specified.

"Yeah, yeah, that's all fine and good…" Metatron said. "But what the hell was up with that purple mask? Did he honestly believe no one could recognize him like that? I mean, he was back to green when he transformed into an animal!"

Now it was Cyborg who laughed.

"Actually, as amazing as it sounds, back then nobody ever made the connection between him and that strange green kid on the neighborhood."

"Meh, can't blame them too much actually." Metatron shrugged.

"Ain't that the truth." Cyborg agreed.

By now, they had reached a rural area: Trees and vegetations everywhere, not long before they reach The Juggernaut now. Cyborg felt slightly saddened seeing as this kid wasn't… _that_ bad. He started to descend his car from the air and unto the road.

"Hey, this is an interesting car." Metatron muttered, looking around at the vehicle. "Where'd you buy it?"

Cyborg suddenly beamed as a huge grin spread on his face, making Metatron feel _slightly _uncomfortable: He hadn't gotten any homosexual conduct from the metallic teen but now-days you really couldn't tell anymore. Normally, he wouldn't mind if he was gay… but it just so happened that he was being restrained. And they were alone. In the middle of nowhere.

So excuse him for having his worries.

"I BUILT IT MYSELF!" Cyborg announced, pulling his chest out in a proud manner. Metatron let out a breath of relief. "FROM SCRATCH!"

"Really? That's—ACK!" He started, but was stopped by the turbulence caused by the car wheels finally coming in contact with the rough ground beneath them, which made him jump from his seat and hit his head on the car's roof.

"Er… Sorry about that, landings are not my forte…" Cyborg sweatdropped.

"Ugh… No problem…" Metatron answered, attempting to rub his head with the soft material covering the seat. His efforts died out as his eye caught something. It was time. "Say… How much do you like this car?"

"Are you kidding, Adam? It's my baby!" Cyborg grinned.

"…All disturbing images coming from that phrase aside…" Metatron started, with a slight twitch. "If you really like it this much, then I strongly suggest you let me go. Right now."

Cyborg went silent for a moment, his expression no longer joke-cracking.

"As much as I may have grown to like you in the last… Ten minutes…" He finally said. "I can't let you go, Adam. You committed crimes, you have to serve your time."

"You are not getting it, Cyborg." Metatron said, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "It is not up to question. I'm just pointing you towards the way that _might_ get you out of this unharmed. You have to let me go. Preferably ten minutes ago."

Cyborg's expression grew stern. So this kid was just like all the other villains after all…

"No." He replied. "You are going to The Juggernaut. I'd suggest you keep quiet the remaining ride." He glanced at him through the mirror. "Don't bluff me, Metatron; you don't honestly believe you can break through those cuffs, right?"

"I'd say it's highly improbable that I couldn't." Metatron responded.

"Then humor me." Cyborg said. "How exactly can you get out of this _and _harm me?"

"Oh, I can't." The other answered calmly.

Cyborg suddenly let out a yelp and lost control of his car momentarily as something LARGE crashed against the top of his car, making quite a dent on it. One that almost crushed the Titan and his captive.

"He, on the other hand, can probably do _that_ and more." Metatron finished, smiling at the shocked hybrid.

Then the car top was lifted as if it was a can of sardine, revealing the gigantic mass of concrete known as Cinderblock over it. The stone beast roared at Cyborg, who had been force to stop the car when its roof started being ripped out.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, rawr to you too." Metatron snapped at his 'rescuer' with clear annoyance. "What the hell took you so long? I sent the signal almost twenty minutes ago!"

Cinderblock looked a bit disconcerted at this, which only increased Metatron's annoyance.

"MY BABY!" Cyborg finally stammered, looking at his ruined car. It almost seemed like he wanted to cry. But then it all went to anger. "ARGH! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ROCKY BUTT, YOU BASTARD!"

The sonic-cannon blast slammed against Cinderblock's chest, making it fall flat on its back with a roar. Metatron shook his head with a sigh.

"So hard to find good help now-days, isn't it?" Metatron asked Cyborg, apparently unperturbed at the fact that his savior had already been brought down. "By the way, I suggest you duck."

Cyborg did not heed Metatron's advice. And he paid it dearly as a regular Slade-bot suddenly tackled him to the ground.

"Warned ya." Metatron said from his seat.

"DAMNIT, BE QUIET!" Cyborg shouted as he pushed the robot off of him and blew his head off with the cannon. "HA! WHAT NOW?"

"Now?" Metatron asked, looking thoughtful. "Well… About six dozen more Slade-bots plus a _very_ pissed off Cinderblock."

And true enough, roughly seventy-five armed Slade-bots suddenly jumped from the bushes and rampaged towards Cyborg, soon followed by the aforementioned angered Cinderblock.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The teen screamed as he tried to fight off, but was slowly overwhelmed by the robotic troops.

Metatron ignored it.

"You." He called. Instantly, one of the assaulting Slade-bots came to his side. "Override this thing and get it off me." He said, motioning to his restraints.

The robot immediately obeyed and started using its gadget to override the lock on the handcuffs, Metatron waited patiently: He had the time.

Unfortunately, Cyborg could not say the same thing; he was currently struggling for his life as all the robots shoot him with their laser-weapons. Covering his face to avoid a hit on the flesh, he fired his cannon randomly, hopping to hit the robots. One good thing was that they were all lined-up horizontally, which made them an easy target.

A bad thing was Cinderblock, who, being as dumb as he was, charged the Titan head-on without bothering to think about the blasts hitting him as well. And of course, they did hit him, but he ignored them long enough for him to achieve his goal. Dragging Cyborg to the ground. Hard.

Cyborg screamed as the gigantic hunk of stone crushed his metallic body, incapacitating all movement. The robots were slowly walking towards the immobilized teen, charging their lasers and ready to end this battle.

On the distance, Metatron started showing worry. He did not want Cyborg dead.

Neither did the hybrid.

"ARGH! FUCK YOUUUUUUUUUU!" He yelled, his censors going crazy as he pushed himself and actually _lifted _Cinderblock from him and threw him at his companions before readying his cannon again.

_Click. _

The sound was followed by two heavy cuffs finally falling to the ground.

"YOU AIN'T GETTING ME!" Cyborg shouted as he continued to wildly shoot his cannon at the robots like a maniac. Even Cinderblock found it hard to move with all the blasts he was receiving.

Cyborg continued to fire, reducing the number of robots severely. But his energy rush was dying out, and so was the speed of his shooting. He had to call for back-up.

Snapping out his communicator, he got ready to access it.

"DAMNIT, GUYS, IF YOU ARE NOT HOME THEN I SWEAR MY GHOST WILL HAUNT YOU TO THE GRAVE!" He shouted and started pressing the communication.

**_SH-CLUK!_**

The Titan's communicator fell to the ground.

Shootings from both sides ceased.

Cyborg first blinked, not sure what was happening. Then, slowly, his gaze started going down to his stomach region. He tried to gasp at what he saw, but found his throat dry. A hand, currently sticking out of his stomach, had gone through that region. A clawed hand.

"I'm sorry, Cyborg." Metatron's cold voice came from behind him. "But we can't have you warning your teammates about my early release, now can we? Frankly, I think I've had my fair share of violence for one day."

Already feeling weak, Cyborg tilted his head towards Metatron. On the back of his mind, he could hardly believe he had been joking around and getting along with this guy just ten minutes ago.

**_WARNING: SEVERE ENERGY LEAK. SEEK REPAIRMENT._**

****

"You know…" Metatron said as he took his hand out of Cyborg's stomach, leaving a hole the size of a baseball behind and causing the teen to let out a yelp of pain. "If you want to blame anyone for this, blame your leader. Had he let Batman be the one to take me here, I really doubt I would have been able to escape."

**_WARNING: ENERGY-CELLS DRAINING FAST. SEEK REPAIRMENT IMMEDIATELY._**

****

Cyborg slowly fell to his knees. Slade robots closed in on them.

"Though know this." Metatron said. "I did not want it to be like this. I _did _ask you to let me go, don't forget that."

**_WARNING: 34 PERCENT ENERGY REMAINING AND DROPPING. SEEK REPAIRMENT IMMEDIATELY._**

****

One of the Slade-bots stopped in front of Cyborg and aimed the weapon to his head. The Titan couldn't fight back: his energy was still lowering. Cyborg closed his eye and waited for death's bells.

It never came.

Venturing, Cyborg's eye opened again. He found the robot still standing before him… But Metatron was as well: He was also crushing its metallic hand into smatterings and looked mad.

"No." He hissed, and then looked around. "Nobody kills him. That's an order."

The robots didn't seem troubled by the command. Cinderblock did, but he kept it to himself. Cyborg was wondering why… and somehow he thought he knew already.

Metatron turned to face him for a couple of seconds.

"Go back. All of you. I'll catch up… After I make a small stop in S.T.A.R. Labs." He said, winking at Cyborg.

In a second, both kids were alone again. Metatron smiled.

"Take care of yourself, kid." He said. "See ya next time you try to stop me."

Now… Cyborg was alone again. Relaxing slowly he fell on the ground. No longer caring that Metatron was going to steal the artifact… That no one will stop him 'cause they all think he already _was _stopped. He no longer cared.

About anything.

**_WARNING: CRITICAL STAGE REACHED – 5 PERCENT ENERGY LEFT._**

****

**_WARNING: INITIATING SHUTDOWN._**

****

**_SHUTTING DOWN._**

****

**_SHUTDOWN COMPLETE._**

****

Blissful how quiet the rural forest can be, isn't it?

****

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

_Author's note: The Juggernaut, high-security prison for Metahumans, is copyrighted by me, seeing as I created it about two minutes ago. Also, a friend of my pointed out how weak pterodactyl's bones actually are, showing a plothole on Cyborg's fighting strategy on chapter 02. I could say that Beastboy's modified his genetic structure to make the bones more enduring… but the truth is that I'm still green at writing. Plotholes are bound to be found. I will keep trying to improve._


	5. Chapter 04: Cornered

**Chapter 04: Cornered**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I **FAILED**!"

The voice echoed throughout the entire hidden lair. And it was _mad_.

"So… _Slade…_" Metatron hissed, apparently his anger so extreme that it had him shaking. "Tell me. How exactly did I fail?"

"I never said you failed." Slade responded. "I said that wasn't you best effort. You were captured. You showed panic and hysteria. You were defeated. Easily, if I do say so myself."

They were on a room that resembled an average office from a big business company. Slade sat on a chair, desk in front of him; while Metatron stood on the other side of the desk, struggling with himself to keep from choking the man before him to death.

"It was against _Batman._" The apprentice snapped, emphasizing the last word.

Slade just stared, as if asking if there was a point to this.

"BATMAN!" Metatron repeated, swinging his arms wildly.

"I feel you think that makes a difference, apprentice." Slade commented, looking calm.

"OF COURSE IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!" Metatron yelled, it was a wonder how the civilians that were near the Lair didn't' hear his thundering voice. "IT'S _BATMAN_! NOT A BUNCH OF KIDS! I HAD BEEN SHOT (repeatedly) MOMENTS BEFORE HE APPEARED! I COULDN'T TAKE ON HIM THEN! HELL, _YOU'D_ HAVE TROUBLE TOUCHING HIM!"

The older man didn't responded.

"I even came out with a break-out plan, severely harmed one of the Titans _and _I even managed to bring your little toy from S.T.A.R. Labs before midnight!"

"Break-out plan: Without anyone noticing, sending a signal that would attract the group of robots, plus Cinderblock, that you had reserved to yourself for emergencies." Slade stated sourly, clearly annoyed at his apprentice's unoriginality.

"It worked, didn't it?" The kid growled.

"Would it have if Batman had been the one escorting you?" The other asked.

Metatron let the silence speak for itself.

"Exactly." Slade said. "And your little stunt also cost us Cinderblock."

This caused the teen's head to lift.

"I did what now?"

"When you ordered your team to retire from the scene, Cinderblock wandered around." The master explained. "He got to close to The Juggernaut and was spotted, then captured."

"You can't possibly blame me for his denseness." Metatron smiled, finding the whole event funny. "Besides, if he was stupid enough to walk straight into a prison, then do you really want him on your side?"

"That is not the point, ignorant people are incredibly obedient." Slade remarked.

"I still say it wasn't that big of a lost, the big chunk of stone was your weakest ally anyway: Plasmus is in many ways more efficient." The teen shrugged. "Anything else wrong with the way I handled things?"

"Your second point." Slade answered. "Severely harming one of the Titans."

The apprentice was taken aback.

"You mean you are _not _happy about that?"

"You could have finished him." Slade answered simply.

"I'll pass." Metatron replied, getting up. "His death was not necessary, he was down already."

"Where are you going?" Slade asked as his apprentice walked towards the door.

"My room, unless you've found something wrong about any other tactics I used."

"Nothing you can't improve with practice." The other stated, making Metatron miss a step on annoyance. "But I do have a mission for you."

The kid stopped on his tracks.

"What about Batman?" He asked.

"What _about _him?"

"He's still out there, Slade." Metatron hissed. "After what happened to the Titan; he won't take any bullshit from Robin, he'll take me to prison himself."

Slade's eye stared at his apprentice for what seemed hours before he finally said anything.

"Are you so sure you will be beat, apprentice?" He asked.

"That man has taken on gods. I'm a moderately super-powerful demon. Somehow, I think he would be able to." The other answered.

Silence followed. The man known to most of the dark-world as Deathstroke seemed to be studying his protégé, analyzing his movements, abilities and limits. In the end, he came to the conclusion that Metatron was probably right.

But he also concluded something else.

"Batman has most likely left the city by now: He was exiled by his own student." Slade explained. "Though in many cases that wouldn't scare the Bat away, I believe he respects Robin enough to obey his demand. Besides, he's not the type to leave his city unattended for too long."

Metatron's eyes narrowed. He did not believe the story to be accurate; after all, Batman had gone to a great deal of trouble just to capture him, would he really let it go like that?

"Do you have any doubts about this, apprentice?" Slade asked.

"……Yes." The kid in question sighed. "But that doesn't really matter now, does it?" Slade smiled behind his mask; somehow Metatron was able to tell. "What do you want me to steal _this _time?"

"Steal is not the correct term." Slade explained, pushing a button on his chair. "At least… Not exactly."

A picture was brought to the desk between the two via compartment on the side. Metatron picked it up and stared at it: It featured a grown man, probably mid-fifties, with a powerful gaze and a suit; to his side a blonde girl on her mid-teens stood, looking pompous and slightly spoiled. The man was easy to recognize as Stefan Reynolds, one of Jump City's most influential political figures. The girl was probably his daughter, as some traits were similar between the two.

"Ok…" Metatron muttered. "You are gonna have to walk me through this one."

"You have stolen enough immaterial objects." Slade explained. "Let's see if you can make Mr. Reynolds have a small taste of what you've been feeling this past week."

Confusion made itself evident on the kid's face at Slade's words. That is, until the order dawned on him.

"No… Way…"

* * *

Voices. _Faint _ones.

"…he needs help…"

"…FUCKING HOLE ON HIS STOMACH, YOU IDIOT…!"

**_SITUATION: STABLE. ENERGY CELLS: STEADELY RETURNING TO _****_NORMAL_******

****

"…escaped…"

"…S.T.A.R. Labs… wrecked…"

"…all my fault…"

**_REPAIRING PROGRESS: 67 PERCENT AND GROWING._**

"…contact him, we need anyone…"

"…repairs are needed… repairs will be made… I will be able to repair him…"

"…keep an eye on both of them, Star…"

"…you'll be fine, Victor… I'm sorry…"

**_ALL SYSTEMS BEGIN TO START UP._**

****

"…why does he not wake up?..."

"…in coma…"

"…an ambush…"

**_STARTING UP…_**

****

"…won't get away with this…"

"…find him…"

**_START UP COMPLETE._**

****

**_Welcome back, Cyborg._**

****

"Ugh…"

Blurry shapes were the only thing he could make out at the moment, his mechanical eye didn't seem to be working. A big green blur suddenly popped in front of him.

"Hey, buddy." The cheery voice greeted. "Thought we lost you for a minute."

"Argh… Gar…" Cyborg groaned, his voice croaky and weary. "Brush your teeth, man…"

"Ok, next time we won't bother saving you!" Beastboy replied, but nevertheless left the room, probably searching for the nearest bathroom.

His vision went slowly went back to focus and he could now make out all his teammates, minus Beastboy, in front of his bed, all smiling. He was on the medical room at Titan's Tower.

"Repairs are not fully complete, there are still a few places in need of close-up." A monotone voice stated. It did not belong to any of his teammates, but it was familiar to Cyborg anyway.

"Fixit?" He asked, turning his head and indeed finding Jump City's other human/robot hybrid on the corner of the room.

"Hello, friend." Fixit nodded, the ghost of a smile on his monotone face. Cyborg gave a full grin on return, but it banished as he remembered what had happened

"Metatron…" Cyborg said, turning to the other Titans, who gave a grim stare.

"He escaped." Robin growled. "And he stole the sonic-wave generator from S.T.A.R. Labs without much trouble too. Nobody expected him to be walking around twenty minutes after being captured."

Cyborg lowered his head.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

Silence.

"Guys, can you leave us alone for a few minutes?" Robin asked, turning to the girls and Fixit. They all obeyed, though the latter looked confused at the request. A couple of minutes passed while Robin made sure they had privacy. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Victor. _I'm_ sorry, it's _my _fault. I should have known better than to let my pride get the best of me… Again."

"The thing with Batman…" Cyborg enquired.

"Yes." Robin responded before the other had had the time to finish. "The thing with Batman." For a while, Cyborg stared at Robin with some doubt on his eyes. "You can ask. I know you want to."

"What got into you back there?" The metallic teen asked.

Robin first pulled out a chair near Cyborg's bed and rested his body on it. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he started speaking.

"What was the reason this team was formed?" Robin questioned, taking off his mask to reveal Timothy Drake. He wanted to talk honestly. Not to Cyborg, but to Victor Stone.

"Raven summoned us…" Victor recalled, but came to a halt when Tim raised a palm.

"What was _your _reason?" Tim clarified. "Raven may have asked our aids, but after her father's apparently-temporal banishment we had no reason to be together anymore. But we did. Why?"

Victor still remained confused for a few seconds, yet he understood what his leader and friend was asking for.

"We all had a special reason for wanting to be here." Tim continued. "While I cannot reveal the other's without their consent, I have a guess at what yours may have been." He took a deep breath before continuing, knowing he may be taking a step to far on his friend's past. "You had recently been transformed into a machine hybrid against your own will by your father. You felt like an outcast and a freak because of your change, and while that was entirely not true you still felt it. So when Raven came by with her offer, you jumped at the chance to be with people that might understand you. A group in which you belong: A group of Teenage Metahumans thought to be way in over their heads for forming a group. Am I right?"

For a moment, there was silent.

"…Yes." Victor answered; he didn't look mad, but he didn't look happy either. "But what does that have to do with my question?"

"MY reason." The teen in question answered darkly. "My main reason was Batman. All my life I've lived on his shadow. I respect the man, and I know that he's a hundred times better than me, but it gets _frustrating_. With the Teen Titans, I saw a chance to show the world I _can _do it on my own. I _can _be more that a sidekick, I _can_ be what people erroneously call 'superheroes' without Batman. It was going well, but it's just now I realize it was only because most of the enemies we fought could be deemed laughable." Tim's eyes narrowed, but without the mask it wasn't so scary. "And then Metatron came into the picture. A demon, as Raven labeled him. An adversary who, contrary to most others before him, actually knew what he was doing. He knew his limits, he came up with strategies, he used _everything _around him as a weapon… Including our psyche." His eyes narrowed more, remembering his second fight with him. "I thought we would eventually be able to beat him, and I still think that. But it took us too long: People's lives were endangered. And Batman… He had to come to my rescue… Again."

Victor stared at his friend for a while… On the one hand, it sounded like a childish excuse… But the way he expressed it, it did not made him so. Tim stood up and placed the mask back in its spot.

"It's just… Frustrating." He muttered. "Take it easy, Cyborg. You need your rest. I'll get Fixit back to finish his job."

The room fell silent and lifeless. Then the alarm went off.

His name was Alexander Whitman, and he was a chauffer. He had been hired for a new job: Driving around a young girl to wherever she damn pleased, nothing new. If only it had stayed that way.

The white limousine made its way in the traffic, apparently in a race against time. And to the Alexander, it was.

"HE'S GAINING UP!" The high-pitched voice coming from the back seat warned, sending chill down the driver's spine.

The girl on the back seat had a striking resemblance to Kitten, but only physically. The panic overwhelming this girl's eyes were quite different from the bossiness and dislike often found on the other female.

Said panic tripled when a big weight fell on the roof of the vehicle, causing the girl to scream and Alexander to lose control and crash against a fire hydrant.

"Ugh…" Alexander groaned, rubbing his forehead… And abruptly stopped as the roof opened up like a can of sardines. The girl just kept screaming as Metatron jumped in next to her.

"Alice Reynolds." Metatron called, causing the girl to scream even harder at the mention of her name. "Let's walk."

Within seconds, Metatron jumped out of the limousine carrying the terrified girl.

"Take it home, James!" Metatron called back that the chauffer, grinning. Alexander just stared in disbelief as this strange kid suddenly grew bat-like wings and took off with his client. If only this would have been a normal day…

He was so gonna get fired.

A small consolation was that the winged kid didn't got more than 10 feet from the wrecked vehicle before he was brought down to the ground by a powerful slam courtesy of the wielder of a bo-staff.

Metatron groaned as he got up in pain, having been forced to use his own body to shield the girl from the impact against the concrete, he barely noticed Robin approaching in time to put a decent defense (as easy as that was while having to seize a girl at the same time).

In the end, it did no good: The attack came, but it wasn't Robin who made contact. Instead, it was a barrage of Starbolts all hitting their target and throwing it into a nearby alley.

"AGHHHH!" Metatron roared as his back once again made contact with the dirty soil on the alley. "YOU IDIOTS! I HAVE A HOSTAGE, BE FUCKING CAREFUL OR SHE'S GONNA DIE! AND NOT BY _MY_ HAND!" He managed to yell, the only reason that was stated was because he needed the girl alive. The way this was going…

"Hmm… Yes, the hostage…" The teenager tensed as the soft voice whispered at his ear. "We'll have to do something about her, now won't we?"

Turning around for an attack, Metatron found… Nothing. Wait… Something is not right here… There really _was _nothing… Only darkness.

_The sorcerer. _Metatron thought. And then he felt the girl being yanked from his grasp and he was thrown around like a rag doll, lifted up and down and 'crashed' against what would be the walls in this empty void.

Raven continued this game for a couple more minutes before finally releasing the kid by throwing him through the wall of one of the buildings at the side of the now visible alley. For a minute the body remained still on his bed of pulverized concrete; but it spasmed after a couple of seconds when Metatron regained consciousness.

"Ok…" He whispered, his voice croaky and weary. He lifted his head slightly: Raven stood before him with cold eyes; Alice, the girl that was supposed to be in Slade's lair by now, was hiding behind her, obviously still scared. "You are all very mad… I take it this is because of your teammate?"

She didn't answer. But some movement beneath her cloak was noticed: A little green monkey popped out of it and rested on the girl's shoulder, at the same time staring at Metatron with vicious eyes.

For a minute there was silence. Then the monkey screeched ferociously and lashed itself at the apprentice, transforming into a gorilla in mid-way and seizing him by the shoulders.

"Oh, come on!" Metatron protested at the ape. "Ok, so I roughed him up. I know! I deserved the hits! But at least I left him alive, right!"

The green primate hurled the kid into the street as if he were a javelin, causing the latter to get his head stuck in the concrete: Beastboy has put a lot of muscle behind that thrown.

"ARGH!" Metatron, along with part of the pavement, exploded in rage after releasing himself. "THAT'S IT! ENOUGH! GIVE ME THE FUCKING GIRL OR I _WILL _KIll… you…?" In his fury, he had failed to notice the gigantic mammoth stampeding towards him until the animal was 5 feet from his chest. "…Oh."

BLAM!

Beastboy reverted to human form as Metatron's body fell before him, while the other Titans hurried to the scene.

"I believe we needed him alive, Beastboy." Raven said lamely, not looking all that concerned about the boy's fate. Alice Reynolds still hid shyly and frightened behind the girl's body.

"And he is." Beastboy growled. Though very uncharacteristic of him, he still had his dark side, and it had been triggered awake when he saw Cyborg's body in the condition it was found.

"Beastboy is right." Robin said, slowly stepping closer to the fallen apprentice. "Be on your toes, I don't want us falling for the same trick as last time."

"I do not think he is faking this time." Starfire commented. She flew past Robin and seized Metatron by his belt without much effort. That was the first mistake.

For you see, the instant her hand came in contact with the belt; roughly 2000 bolts of electricity shocked the young girl into screaming. The electro-shock was soon followed by Metatron's glowing fist hurling Starfire towards a nearby car with a blast of energy. The car exploded at impact, probably consuming the Tamarenian.

"STARFIRE!" Robin cried out in shock and horror. He didn't notice Metatron blinking in slight confusion and holding his ribcage in pain: As Starfire had speculated, his fainting wasn't faked… But the electric shock and the girl's scream had woken him up from his slumber.

Metatron ignored the horrified scream and lashed out to Raven, who had been too surprised to do anything about it. Kicking her out of the way, he seized the blonde girl he had come for and dragged her away by the hair.

The two male Titans were ready to follow… When Metatron turned around and positioned his palm in a martial arts 'karate-chop' position, with the fingers against the girl neck.

"I keep them sharp." He whispered through gasps, looking like he had trouble keeping words together: he was still dizzy. The Titans looked confused for a second, but then Metatron's black claws grew visible again, along with the ears and fangs. It was clear what he meant. "I don't want to take a life. _Don't_ make me use them."

Raven, having gotten up from her hit, rejoined her teammates. She prepared herself for a spell to separate both teens… But she was stopped when Robin's staff was collocated in front of her, separating the Titans from Metatron. She turned and stared quizzically at Robin.

"Go." The Titan leader said simply, not looking at his teammates, or the shocked expressions on their faces.

But the expression was mirrored on Metatron's face, who really wasn't buying the fact that Robin was allowing him to escape.

"Have you changed your mind about escaping?" Robin questioned when the other did not move from his spot.

"…No…" Metatron answered, wondering if maybe he had hit his head harder than he thought. But it did not stopping from allowing his wings to reappear.

Shooting one last confused look at the Titans, he took flight. The girl screaming on his arms.

"Explain." Raven asked. Robin was already ignoring her and taking a slightly burned Starfire out of the ruins where he body has been thrown to, he checked for vitals before allowing the unconscious girl to rest.

"Raven, try to heal Star. After that, catch up with us." He muttered. "Beastboy, you are with me."

Beastboy shot a confused look at Raven before following.

"Dude, how are we gonna…?" He started, but then he realized Robin wasn't listening. He was too busy staring at a device on his hands. A device Beastboy recognized.

And now he knew exactly what was going on.

"BE QUIET!" Metatron snapped at the weeping girl, who just screamed more in return.

Pushing the girl along, Metatron made his way to the meeting room in the lair that had become his home. _Why do we even HAVE a meeting room? Are there even any other persons aside from me and Slade in this place?_

"Hey." He said while entering the room: His master was there waiting, facing the opposite side of the room. "Mission accomplished." He added while he set the scared girl down.

He got no answer.

"…Well, if that's all for the day, I'll be going. Have fun with Miss Reynolds." Metatron added uncomfortably, turning around to leave.

He stopped when Slade suddenly rushed to him and knocked the hostage down with a fierce punch. The girl did not move after the fist connected. Metatron stared at her rigid body for a couple of seconds as that event sunk in.

"You had me kidnap this girl… Just so you can beat her up?" He finally asked, looking at Slade in confusion. "Damnit, Slade! If you are into that, you could have just picked up some random girl, not th--!"

Metatron was silenced by his master's fist, connecting against him with even more strength than with the girl. The kid was reasonably confused.

"WHAT THE FU--!" He started protesting, and was once again silenced.

"Strike two, _apprentice_." Slade interrupted through clenched teeth.

Silence.

"_What?_" Metatron asked, sure he had heard wrong.

Slade kicked him on the cheek.

"Strike TWO." He repeated and grabbed Metatron by the collar with on hand and reaching at the back of the child's head with the other. Metatron felt as a piece of tape would be pulled off his flesh before he was dropped to the ground.

Still confused, Metatron lifted his head and saw what Slade held in his hands: it was a miniscule black circle with a yellow outline and a white T on its center; it blinked in a dim red light every few seconds.

A tracking device. Metatron stared into it as reality started sinking in. He tried to yell… But was once again interrupted.

**_BLAM!_**

The impact shook the entire place. Panic overwhelmed Metatron as Slade's anger doubled. The Titans had slipped that device into his person. The Titans had tracked him down.

**_BLAM!_**

The Titans were here.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

_Heh. With all the worries Adam had at the beginning, I bet you thought Batman was gonna make an appearance, right? Nah, I decided to let him respect his kid for the moment. As you can probably tell, big climatic scene between titans vs. apprentice and master, the fic its reaching it lasts chapters. Let see how it develops, eh? _

_Sorry this chapter is shorter than the others; I just wanted to end it here. Hope you enjoy it._


	6. Chapter 05: Last Chance

**Chapter 05: Last Chance.**

"…On a nearby cave on the Jump City beach." Robin muttered at his communicator, while watching a green Tyrannosaur Rex stomp against the thick metallic door that lead to Slade's new hiding place.

"Are you serious?" Raven's voice came in a whisper.

"YES. I KNOW. It was literally right in front of our noses. We could probably see the cave entrance from a window of the Tower. How quickly can you get here?"

"A couple of minutes, tops." Raven answered. "I'm pretty much done with Star's healing. The injuries were mostly scratches and first degree burns due to her alien abilities."

"Good, be here as soon as possible. Robin out." The communicator was shut and Robin waited.

**_BANG!_**

****

After leaving a dent, the gigantic raptor reverted to his human form while doing what seemed to be the 'drunk walk'.

"I think it's _finally _giving out, Rob…" Beastboy groaned with a crazy smile, clearly having no idea what he was talking about.

Then he collapsed to the ground. Under all his seriousness and 'duty-calls' attitude, Robin couldn't help but to sweatdrop at the image.

"…This might take longer than necessary if I don't intervene…" He decided, taking out a 'small' portion of his explosives.

* * *

**_CLANG!_**

****

"AAH!" Metatron groaned as his back made contact with the cold steel of the wall, then slid down to sit on the ground, and lay there not trying to get up. Which was good, seeing as Slade's boot slammed against his chest, pining his back against the wall again. Metatron felt a small sting of fear: He had never seen his supposed master _this _angry.

"So… _Apprentice…_" Slade spat, accenting the last world as if he thought he was not even worthy of the term anymore. "What. Do you propose. We do?"

The teen stared at the older man for a second… Then lowered his head.

"I don't know…"

**_CLANG!_**

****

Metatron made when strange noise as he fell to the ground holding his ribcage.

"You piece of garbage." Slade murmured, as he serenely kicked the child on the afore-mentioned wounded ribcage, earning a 'squeaking' sound from him. "I rarely make mistakes. But to imagine that someone as _pathetic_ and _unstable_ as you could take over _my _Empire…" The man pressed a nerve on the kid's back, sending a jolt of pain through his body. "I don't recall ever getting drunk… But I might have been when I thought of _that!_"

Metatron was in all fours by now, gasping heavily. Saliva and blood ran down the corner of his mouth, and his entire body was trembling slightly.

"You are not worthy of my teachings." Slade hissed. "You die, Adam. Today." He slowly reached for something on his back. "But first…"

Adam Matthews forced his head up and saw Slade holding a device. With a small red button. The one that held his sister's life.

"You failed, Adam. Therefore, you pay." Slade stated calmly, and started activating it.

"NO! WAIT!" Metatron shouted desperately, racing towards him. "You said I _could _fail two missions! You said I'd have one ore chance after that! I still do, right!" Grabbing his arm, he no longer cared he was begging. "…Please?"

Slade stared at the kid with some disgust… But put away the device nevertheless.

"Very well." Slade nodded, as great relief was shown on Metatron's face.

"What are your orders… Master?"

In one swift move, Adam found himself with half his face crushed against the wall with Slade next to him, staring coldly.

"_Kill _the Teen Titans. I do not want _any _of them near this room. _Destroy _them. Those are your orders." Slade's voice came in a ghostly fashion. "Do not fail me again… _APPRENTICE_."

* * *

"Ugh…"

With much discomfort, Beastboy sat up… with a huge headache, a common result of trying to break a ten-inch-thick metal door with your cranium. Even IF you are a dinosaur. He finally noticed Robin walking past him and away from the door when his head cleared almost completely.

"Duck." The Teen Wonder whispered before continuing his pace.

Beastboy continued to stare in confusion before he heard a beeping he could easily recognize after fighting with Robin all this time. And it was thanks to it that he was able to take cover before the bombs attached to the metal door went off.

Smoke and dust caused him to cough for a good while before he recovered, and then he spotted Robin standing in front of him.

"Dude, what wer--!"

"Come on." Robin said, walking.

Beastboy stood in place out of surprise. "Gezze, Robin… Feeling moody?"

"A bit, yeah." Robin answered as he walked pass the wrecked door. "Finding out that a maniac and his arrogant apprentice have been hiding out right in front of our house would do that to you."

"No, it didn't." Beastboy said as he followed along.

"Yeah, well, you have a lighter way of looking at things, Gar." The other answered testily. They continued their pace in silence for a while before Robin suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Beastboy asked.

Robin answered BB's question with another one. "Have you seen any of Slade's droids trying to sneak up on us or something on that vein?"

"…No…" Beastboy responded, slightly alarmed. "Why, have you?"

"No." Robin said. "That's the problem."

The section of the floor where they stood suddenly split in half and opened, letting the people over it fall into an apparent endless pit.

"It's a trap." Robin stated simply, taking it quite better than his companion, who was screaming. Quickly, Robin grabbed Beastboy's shirt with one hand and fired his own version of a grappling hook with the other, attaching it to the ceiling and pulling both kids up just before the hole they fell closed itself up again.

"They know we are here." Robin said, almost reaching the end of the metallic line. He failed to hear the rushed footsteps. "Be on your t--- ARGH!"

"Robin!" Beastboy yelped, at the same time falling on the floor. He hastily forced himself up in time to see his friend being tackled into the darkness of the hallway. By Metatron. "ROBIN!"

No answer.

"ROBIN!" Beastboy called again; more afraid of the loneliness than the fact a dangerous criminal had just rushed his friend away.

Once again, all he saw as response was darkness… and a flicker of light on the distance. And then…

**_BOOMM!_**

Light travels faster than sound. Beastboy should have known that, his ears rang furiously at the loud racket caused by the explosion. But he forced himself to deal with it as the obvious question rose in his head: Who had caused it?

"…Robin?" He called for the fourth time.

"You could have stayed away."

Beastboy jerked back and turned in time to see a big boot before it crashed against his face, throwing him back.

"You could have stayed away. You _should _have stayed away." Metatron muttered.

"Where's Robin?" Beastboy spat, getting up after whipping the blood off his lip.

"But _noooo_…" The other continued, completely ignoring the question. "You _had _to be the little heroes. You _had _to get in the way."

The explosion had damaged the lights, Beastboy could not see clearly… But even so, there was something off with Metatron… With his eyes… Something very wrong. It scared him.

"You _had _to save the fucking day." Metatron continued, slightly trembling out of rage. "This is the result. Don't you _dare _blame me for it. It was the very last thing I wanted to do. You brought it upon yourselves."

Beastboy took a step back, slowly realizing what was happening. Yet to believe it, he needed his question answered.

"Where's Ro--?"

"You should have listened." Metatron interrupted, determined to finish his little speech. "To me. And all the others that told you. Children are just not fit for the spandex." He started walking towards Beastboy. "You are far too old to still play superhero. You all are. You should have stopped when you could."

Metatron stared hard at the shorter teen. That, above all, was what made Beastboy notice: He was crying. But it wasn't because of pity… It was fear.

Fear of what?

"But you are still too young to have life stripped from you." Metatron spoke lowly, almost inaudible, by now he was within an inch from the other boy. "…And for that… I'm sorry."

Something inside Beastboy snapped at the words.

"WHERE IS ROBIN!" He roared; punish Metatron back with both hands.

Metatron looked surprised at the sudden outburst for a couple of seconds, but soon went back to the empty, fearful expression he had since the beginning of the conversation.

"He's dead." He answered dully.

Dead.

Beastboy stood in place, the words not making sense to him. He didn't understand them. He didn't _want _to understand them. But they slowly sunk in anyway. He had just lost a teammate. Another loved one.

Like his parents…

Like the Doom Patrol…

Like his stepmother…

Like Mento…

Something is glowing… something gold.

"And so are you." Metatron stated, aiming his energy blast at Beastboy.

**_BOOMM!_**

* * *

People in swimsuits. Screaming.

All running away from the beach.

Where a considerable big army of Sladebots has gathered.

"ARGH!"

A linear assault of Starbolts made contact with a great deal of the machines.

"PLEASE LET US THROUGH!" Starfire commanded. The only reason the word 'please' was on the sentence is because that's the way he had been taught to speak this planet's dialect. She certainly didn't feel polite.

"It's like they were prepared for a war…" Raven commented, floating next to her friend. She encased five bots in a black-energy sphere and slowly crushed them into scrap metal. "They are obviously not going to let us in."

"Friend, can you teleport us inside?" The other asked, flying down and destroying a good chunk with her bare fist.

"No." Raven answered, slapping robots away with a telekinetic blast. "I'd only be able to teleport myself, and there's still a good chance I would end within a wall rather than inside."

(A/N: As aforementioned, this fic takes place on the early days of the Titans; henceforth the teens are still developing and shaping their abilities, including Raven's teleporting technique.)

"Can you not try?" Starfire asked, using one of the bots as a bat to pulverize some others.

"I would if I could…" Raven answered weakly. "But… I can't concentrate."

A small explosion too close to her caused the goth teen to look in that direction: A Sladebot had attempted a shot at her, but Starfire had used her 'bat' to block the laser before destroying the robot with a Starbolt.

Now the girl flew next to her friend.

"I have noticed." She commented. "What is wrong?"

"I…" Raven commented, clenching her chest. "I feel pain… Terrible pain… I think it's around Beastboy… If not him."

"And Robin?" Starfire asked.

Raven did not respond.

"Come on; let's finish off these guys so we can find out what the hell is going on in there." Raven launched herself into the rampage with renewed strength.

Which only worried the Tamarenian girl more.

* * *

Insanity.

Now Beastboy knew what was off with Metatron's eyes: Something had made him crack… He had gone insane.

Metatron lowered his arm and stared at the smoking hole in the wall for a minute.

_Missed._

Strange, he had thought all of this had broken Beastboy's resolve and left him an empty shell… In the end, he had pulled through in time to evade the shot by mere millimeters.

"You shouldn't have moved." Metatron commented, looking at Beastboy. "You are only delaying it and making it harder for me to make it painless."

Calm. Beastboy panicked: The most dangerous insane individual you will ever meet is a calm one.

"You couldn't have killed him." Beastboy said, going in a circle with his enemy; common thing on all fights.

"Hmm? How so?" Metatron interrogated in some amusement.

"He's Robin. You can't just kill him." The other answered.

Metatron chuckled in return.

"Yes, I must admit; I was rather surprised when it was so easy. Catching him off guard and all. All things considered, you are actually lasting longer than he did."

"SHUT UP!" Beastboy, now in the form of a lion, lunged himself to his adversary, slashing its paws wildly.

"Touched a nerve?" Metatron mocked after evading the hasty movement. He waited for the next attack. It didn't come.

"He's not dead." Beastboy hissed, back to human form. "He can't be."

"He is." Metatron waved a hand. "I hit him at point blank with one of my most powerful energy releases. If he's not dead, he will be. Soon."

"NOOO!" Beastboy transformed into a gorilla, smashing his powerful arms at the spot Metatron had been.

Metatron landed on the primate's arm after evading the blow.

"Yes. Robin is dead." He snapped, locking eyes with the gorilla. "Accept it." For a moment, Metatron's eyes betrayed him and deep panic was shown… But only for a moment. "…Like I did."

"ARGH!" Beastboy shouted, as his limbs disappeared and he was left as an anaconda wrapping tightly around Metatron's body. Suffocating him.

Metatron tried to get it off him, and found that he couldn't: Beastboy must have modified the snake's genetic structure to make it tough enough to withstand his strength.

He couldn't breathe… His senses dulled and dizziness took over his brain. He could almost hear the slow crushing sound coming from his bones… He was going to die.

…Good.

Beastboy could not master his anger. He wanted his victim to suffer. He wanted him to be in pain. He had to pay. He had to die. He wanted to watch him _die_. He killed one of his friends. One of the people he cared about. One of the people he _loved _was dead.

So… what else is new?

The thought shocked Beastboy… But he realized it was the truth. Virtually every single person he had loved (aside from the Titans) had died. Robin just adds one more to the list.

That, rather than ideals of heroism, was what made him loosen his grip on the now purple-faced Metatron. He slowly morphed back to human as Metatron took deep gasps for air. Shakily, the apprentice got up and shot a look at Beastboy. To the green teen's surprise, it was a reproachful look.

"You should have killed me." Metatron growled. "I couldn't escape. You should have killed me."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Beastboy replied, looking cross.

"I killed someone. What's more, it was your leader." Metatron continued. "I deserved to die. _You should have killed me._"

"Sorry, I don't kill." Beastboy snapped. "I'm not like you."

Metatron froze, looking uncertain. Beastboy was somewhat confused himself: According to Robin, Metatron had killed his parents… why was another murder so horrifying to him?

"…You imbecile." Metatron hissed.

Beastboy found himself crushed against the walls of the hallway, Metatron in front of him with his clawed hand in position. The glow on his eyes told Beastboy that maybe he didn't go with the best choice of action after all.

"You missed your chance. You won't get another one." Metatron lashed out his claws, going for Beastboy's head. Beastboy let himself fall on his butt in order to avoid certain death, so the hand stuck itself into the metallic wall.

"We'll see who gets the chances!" Beastboy yelled and was swiftly replaced by a grizzly bear, which launched himself at Metatron, forcefully removing his hand from the wall. With a roar, he crashed his enemy against the opposite wall, making a dent and a scream from the other kid.

Metatron struggled wildly before freeing one of his hands from the bear's grip. It rolled itself into a fist.

"You shouldn't be giving me this kind of trouble." He hissed from clenched teeth. "Now, GET. OFF!"

The power behind the hit was tremendous, it threw the bear back to where it came from with ease, though Metatron still fell on his butt with pain on his body at almost being crushed. The bear did not waste time and transformed into a tiger, stampeding against the kid in mid-transformation.

Both creatures uttered an animal-like roar when they met; slashes, kicks and brute strength clashed throughout the fight. Blood-stained claws soon flew in the air, aiming at each other with fury.

In the end, Beastboy lost: He was trashed against a wall after a particularly deep cut in the chest. While he was the king of the animal world, he was not experienced in clawed fight; on the other hand, Metatron had fought like that throughout his entire life.

"Getting the idea yet?" Metatron asked, holding his left arm: one of Beastboy's attempts had hit flesh.

In response, the tiger became an anaconda that lashed out at its prey once again. This time however, Metatron jumped out of the head's reach and landed hard on its body; the reptile screeched in pain.

"Come on, do you actually believe I'd fall for the same trick twice?" Metatron smirked as the massive serpent turned its head to face him.

The anaconda lashed out once again, opening its faucet at the kid's face. Still standing on its body, Metatron lashed out his own hand and grabbed the snake by what probably was the neck. It never got close to its target.

"I admire your persistence." Metatron commented, taking his feet off the serpent's body but still holding its neck. "But I gotta question your intelligence."

In one swift movement, he threw the anaconda against the wall, where it fell to the ground and remained still. Metatron cocked his head a bit before reaming his arm at his target… The hand was glowing within seconds.

"Know this: I take absolutely no pleasure in killing you. Any of you. In fact… It scares me… More than you will ever know… But I do what I must do for a reason, please understand that."

The snake did not respond. It appeared unconscious.

"Buh-bye."

**_BOOMM!_**

Metatron blinked uncomfortably as smoked filled the hall and his nostrils. By waving his hands, he forced the smoke away in time to see a rather rock-like shaped thing suddenly morph into a smaller shape.

Metatron stood silent for a couple of minutes.

Then he actually started clapping.

"Heh… That was actually very smart." Metatron smiled after his ovation was over. Beastboy shot him a look that told what he felt about Metatron's opinion; but since the child was bleeding and looked like he clearly was having trouble breathing, Metatron dismissed it. "Transforming into a rhinoceros at the last possible second in an attempt to protect yourself with the hard skin. Very clever."

Beastboy's eyes widened slightly when Metatron aimed again.

"But somehow, I don't think you'll be able to pull it off again."

He didn't fire.

Because Beastboy was smiling.

So that meant either he was a masochist or…

"AHHH!" Metatron yelled, jumping back as _something_ touched him and exploded in contact. "What the hell!"

And then Robin jumped into the scene, staff at hand. With moves worthy of a ninja, he landed at Metatron's feet and uses the tip of his staff to throw him back like a pool ball. Metatron crashed at the end of the hallway, not being able to put a defense out of surprise.

"You ok?" Robin asked Beastboy.

The other Titan stood up, not really looking surprised at Robin's appearance.

"I knew he couldn't kill you." He smiled, limping to his friend's side.

"Uh huh." Robin smiled back. "And that's why you started panicking and wanted to kill him as well."

"…Heh." Was Beastboy's response.

The soft metallic 'clang' told them it was not over. By the time they turned, Metatron was already mere feet from their spot; he looked more angry than hurt. Then he finally noticed it had been Robin who blew him away.

For an instant, Robin could have sworn a great look of relief spread all over his enemy's face, but it was soon replaced with confusion.

"Ok," Metatron began. "I hit you at full force with only millimeters of distance between each other… And you are not only alive, but completely unharmed. Are you immortal?"

"No."

"Clone?"

"No."

"Have nine lives?"

"No."

"Ghost?"

"No."

"Made a deal with the Evil one?"

"…No?"

"…Asked a favor from Pangloss?

"…Who?"

"…Nevermind." Metatron said. "Why are you alive then?"

"We of the Bat family tend not to fall for the same trick twice." Robin said with a smirk, and showed off his cape. "I recall something similar happening when you encountered my mentor?"

"…Your stinking cape." Metatron realized. "You shielded yourself!"

"Yep." Robin's smile was more obvious. "Don't get me wrong, it still hurt, but it didn't harm me seriously. It just blew me clear, and knocked me out temporally."

"Well, boo-hoo." Metatron growled. "You could have just gotten away. This just proves you are stupid."

"Or loyal." Robin replied, assuming position.

"Yeah, there's that." Metatron shrugged. And then he attacked.

Robin swung his staff in mid-position, but Metatron caught it. Going with the momentum of the swing, He twisted himself and threw Robin right at Beastboy, both crashing against the wall with a grunt.

"Nope, definitely stupid." He commented, tossing the staff to the ground. "Sometimes a good will and loyalty are just not enough, kid. Above all people, I should know."

The green monkey was very small: Metatron didn't see it coming until it attached itself to his face.

"ARGH! GET OFF!" He protested, his voice muffled by the animal on his face. Said animal only screeched in return. "DAMNIT! GET OFF, GET OFF, GET **_OFF!_**"

More screeching. Until Metatron sunk his claws to the animal's side, then the little beast screamed and finally let go; offering Metatron the chance to savagely throw it to the ground in a rather cruel way.

Robin's boot connected to his chin, pushing him back to the wall. With no place to back away, Metatron became an easy target as Robin slammed him with his knee and proceeded to throw a storm of punches and kicks at the teenager impeding him from putting up a good defense for a good while.

Metatron was able to shield a blow to the head with his arm. Sadly, it was his left arm, which had been deeply cut by Beastboy on the previous fight; therefore the defense did more damage than aid: Metatron let out a screech when the fist made contact.

"Ugh… ENOUGH!" He snapped, kicking Robin away. Considering his strength, you can guess it did far more than just push him.

But once Robin was out of the way, a massive green bull actually tackled him into the end of the halfway, pushing him back even more towards the room where Slade waited.

"DAMNIT! STOP FIGHTING ALREADY!" Metatron screamed, seizing Beastboy by the horns and pushing him back, causing himself to fall on his butt out of effort.

"Right, and we are just gonna stand by and let you kill us." The bull responded as he charged again.

"I _would_ make it painless." The other spat. When the animal was close, he laid back and used his legs as some kind of recoil to push the animal back. Violently.

The bull was still flying on the air when Robin suddenly appeared standing on it and then jumping at Metatron, staff at hand: He must have recovered it. The apprentice received the full force of the swing with his arms in classic 'X' position as shield; the strength behind the attack actually shattering the ground bellow him out of the pressure.

Robin jumped back to catch his breath; but Metatron was already rushing towards him before he had landed. The Teen Wonder was forced to put his staff in a defensive position when Metatron lashed out his fist. The blow went right through the staff and crashed against Robin's face, throwing him to the ground with a 'thud'.

Now it was Metatron who needed to catch his breath. He also rubbed his hand uncomfortably: It had _hurt_. That staff was probably made of harder material than the previous one.

"That's two of your staffs I've broken." He pointed out, cracking the bones on his hands uncomfortably.

He failed to notice the seizing of his leg.

"WHOA!" He yelled, as he was swept off his feet and thrown to the air by what seemed to be… A tail.

The tail vanished and Metatron saw Big foot waiting for him as he fell. Once again, no chance got a defense was given. Big Foot slammed his massive fist exactly at the kid's stomach, encasing him upside down against the metallic wall.

Big Foot removed his fist as he reverted to Beastboy. Metatron made a funny noise as he slid down to the ground, looking pale.

"Is he…?" Robin asked, joining his teammate.

"Doubt it. Just unconscious." Beastboy answered.

No such luck.

"ARGHHH!" Metatron jumped to his feet and slashed his claws wildly, only managing to get the two them to jump back rather than harming them.

"_This _is unconscious!" Robin inquired.

"Hey, _you_ try to keep him down for the count!" Beastboy protested. "Get the back-up, already!"

"Fine." Robin agreed.

"What." Metatron demanded.

"Nothing." Beastboy said before transforming into a T-rex and roaring at his enemy.

Metatron did not seem the least bit scared.

"…Try to move." He said with a smile.

Beastboy seemed confused… Until he realized he was far to big for this place.

"Small tip: Next time, morph into something that can actually fit into your current environment."

"Maybe he's just trying to keep you busy." Robin's voice came from the other side.

Metatron paused. Then he stared at the dinosaur, who was now giving him a fanged grin.

"…You are smarter than I give you credit for." He commented.

T-rex went back into Beastboy and rushed to Robin's side. Metatron easily heard the beeping, his eyes followed it to the ceiling in the back of the hallway: Another bomb.

It just became a lot harder.

**BOOM!**

A great part of the ceiling came crashing down before the three, letting outside light come in… As well as the scene on the beach.

"So that's why they are taking so long to get here…" Robin commented.

Thousand upon thousands of Sladebots' 'corpses' were piled up in the beach. While barely couple of them still stood, firing at the two flying figures on the sky: Raven and Starfire.

"…Maybe sending so many groups of robots to guard the door wasn't such a good idea…" Metatron pondered, looking slightly perturbed as the two remaining droids where shattered. Then he saw the green glow on one of the girl's hands. The one that was diving for him. "…Fuck."

The blasts pummeled him to the ground, burning his skin to an ugly point.

"AHHH! YOU BITCH!" He yelled in fury… And then Robin swiftly kicked him on the mouth.

"Watch your language." He spat.

"Boyfriend to the rescue. Typical." Metatron hissed as a thin line of blood fell from the corner of his mouth.

No matter how hard he tried, it was obvious he was losing control of this fight: Beastboy caught him off guard as an elephant, using his trump to throw him into the sky… Where Starfire waited for him.

"I AM _NOT _A FEMALE DOG!" She yelled before using a hammer-punch to launch the kid back to the ground like a meteor. His body formed a small crater when it made contact with the concrete.

Silence.

"Is it over?" Beastboy asked.

His answer came when Metatron erupted from the concrete, for some reason he was still conscious after that blow to the head: I smell a Gary Stu! Well, no, not really, otherwise he could beat the Titans effortlessly. Like in certain other fic. Hint, hint.

Anyway, back on topic: Metatron certainly didn't look his best. But he was standing. Which meant he could still fight… At least that's what he thought, but who really thinks well in these situations, right?

"That's it. We need a quicker way to end this." Raven stated.

Saying Metatron walked his way out of the crater would be giving him far too much credit: He barely made it out of there on two feet. But his anger hid his weariness… At least from himself.

"I tried to make it painless." He growled, both hands glowing. "But if you won't have it that way, I'm just _fine_ with making it fucking painful." He joined hands causing one sphere, three or four times the size of the average ones, to form instantly. "NOW **DIE _ALREADY!_**" He shouted, preparing to kill the three titans in front of him.

Three. Robin, Beastboy and the Tamarenian girl. …Wait.

Where's--?

He tensed when he felt the soft hands at each side of his face. And before he could do anything about it…

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Raven's voice came in a whisper from behind him. Nevertheless, her spell took effect immediately.

Metatron felt the dark energy overwhelming him. _Cold… Infinite cold…_

"You said it best: You bought this upon yourself." Raven said, her voice distant.

And then… Nothing.

* * *

"Raven… What did you _do _to him?" Beastboy asked, as he poked Metatron's body with his foot, perhaps thinking he would get up and continue fighting as he had done so many times before.

"I shut down his brain." Raven answered casually.

"I didn't know you could do that." Robin said, arching an eyebrow.

"Funny, neither did I." She replied.

Silence.

"…You mean this is the first time you actually tried something like this?" Robin asked, looking alarmed.

"Yep." The utter calmness Raven had was starting to be slightly creepy.

More silence.

"But friend…" Starfire said in shock. "You could have killed him!"

"Somehow, I doubted you would be too teared up if I had." Raven answered coolly. "Besides, I didn't, right?"

"I… Uh… Suppose…" Robin commented uncomfortably. "So… What should we do with him?"

"Let's just leave him here until we are done with Slade: Metatron is in a semi-comatose stage and won't be waking up for at least a day, if not more." Raven stated before floating towards the door at the end of the wrecked hallway.

"…You heard her." Robin said after a minute, then followed her.

Beastboy soon caught up.

"Aren't _you _the leader?" He asked.

"Yes, but Raven did this, so she knows what the next best choice of action is, so let's just follow her."

"Plus you are a bit freaked out at what she did."

"…Yeah, that too…"

"I do not think we have to worry." Starfire said, coming between the two males. "Raven cares deeply for us and only did what she did because she wanted to protect us from any more harm."

"Yeah, you are probably right." Robin reasoned.

"I just hope she doesn't go all freako-psycho on me someday…" Beastboy joked.

"I can hear you, you know." Raven commented from ahead.

Beastboy shrank in fear.

By now, they had reached the door.

"Be ready, Titans." Robin commented, taking out a couple of explosives to open the door with.

Imagine his surprise when said door opened as soon as he got near it. He and his teams remained still at the doorway, studying the room in front of them: It was the same meeting room we've already seen so many times before.

The room was dark and had a dull grey color as did pretty much everything else in this place. A circular, chair-filled table in the center was easily noticed, probably for meetings; it leaded to a big screen on the opposite side of the room, with smaller ones around it. All but the center one features playbacks of different scenes of the recent battle between Titans and Apprentice. The big one had the image of Metatron in it, unconscious: It was probably the current one.

Slade Wilson stood before the screens, studying them.

"Slade." Robin growled, calling to the man he had wanted to beat senseless ever since they met.

"Titans." Slade greeted calmly, not even turning. "Please, make yourselves at home, I'll be with you in a moment." He added, and proceeded to replay one of the footages.

Robin appeared dumbstruck at the lack of concern from Slade. But Starfire snapped him out of it.

"Robin!" She cried, sounded horrified. Robin turned to the direction she watched and saw the blonde girl on the ground, somewhat close to Slade. The Teen Wonder quickly rushed to her side and checked for vitals, he found stable ones.

"She'll be ok." He stated, recognizing the girl easily. "Except for the mild contusion on her face. Wonder how _that_ happened." He added, glaring daggers at Slade.

The man finally stopped turned off all of his screens and turned to his new visitors; the teens instantly took a defensive position.

"What are you planning Slade?" Robin growled. "Why did you kidnap Alice Reynolds?"

"My plan?" Slade asked slowly. Robin could easily tell he was mad. "There is no plan, Robin. Just a desire to give my most recent apprentice a challenge. To see if he could measure up."

Robin narrowed his eyes, almost pitying Metatron.

"Obviously, he couldn't." Slade finished, taking out his own staff and making his way towards the teens.

The Titans went into the offensive as Starfire threw a Starbolt at the man. It appeared to make contact; but this was not some kid who could hold his own, this was Slade Wilson: Appearances will never be accurate.

This fact was proved correct once again when Slade landed on his round table. Much closer than any of the Titans felt comfortably with.

"It appears I have made a poor choice with my apprentice." He said softly.

Then he charged.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

_Heh, it also appears Metatron is down for the count. Well, the Titans managed to take care of the apprentice, now let's see how they dwell against the master._


	7. Chapter 06: Ringing

**Chapter 06: Ringing.**

Birdarangs flew through the air, all missing their target by hitting a swirling staff that acted as a shield. Slade landed on the ground after his maneuver, the boomerangs raining around him.

"Really, Robin…" He commented, picking up one of the wrecked weapons. "When are you going to get better toys?"

"Don't need them to beat you!" The kid in question snapped, lashing out with his staff at the man.

He countered the attack with his own metallic pole, making thunderous sounds at contact, neither one yielding his position in the power struggle. This is where the advantages of being in a team come in.

Slade was not surprised when the green monkey jumped on Robin elbow; he had seen it coming. The monkey screeched as it dived for him, changing into a lion on the process and using its weight to drag Slade to the ground.

The expert martial-artist took no real concern at this: He leaned back and used his feet and the momentum built up by the lion to throw the animal past him and crashing on the round table. Judo Flip Suplex, quite useful in all fights.

The problem for the Titans is that Slade had the battle under total control: He saw the attacks comings before the attackers themselves thought of using them.

He easily saw Starfire's Starbolts rushing to him after he got rid of Beastboy and jumped out of the way with time to spare. Said time used to throw a small light bomb at Raven, whom he saw attempting to bind him with a spell.

He saw Starfire's shock at her teammate's temporal blindness before the girl even noticed the fact and used it to get pass her and to Robin.

He saw Beastboy, still on Lion form, attempting to stop him and he simply used his staff to trip the feline, seize and use him as a projectile to keep the Tamarenian girl busy. He saw Starfire brought down by the animal's dead weight and Raven falling to her knees, rubbing her eyes.

He saw (and found amusing) Robin's expression when he realized the man before him had disabled his entire team in matter of seconds.

"Now…" Slade said, staring hard at Robin, staff still at hand. "Let's talk."

* * *

Titans Tower. Cyborg's room.

The black cybernetic teen rested on his metallic 'bed', deep in sleep mode. Fixit was right next to him using a monitor attached to the bed to supervise the construction process on his friend. Meanwhile, a handful of bite-size bots went around his body adding the finishing touches to the repair job.

The beeping, suddenly coming from the computer, startled Fixit and distracted him from his work. It rather reminded him of the AIM sound used when someone starts talking to you; and indeed, an instant-messenger-looking window (in computer terms, of course) popped up in the screen. A single phrase in it:

**_DONE YET?_**

Fixit stared at the question for a while before smiling his ghostly smile. Then he started typing. Wow... An AIM between a robot and a human's semi-dormant subconscious… You saw it here first, folks.

**PATIENCE, FRIEND. ALL WILL BE FINISHED SOON ENOUGH.**

**_OK… PLEASE TRY TO PICK UP THE PACE._**

****

Fixit rubbed his chin at Cyborg's last response, pondering on the under meanings of the request; party because human reactions were still quite alien to him… But also because he felt worry.

**SOMETHING TROUBLES YOU, FRIEND?**

There was no response for a while.

****

**_NOTHING… JUST A GUT FEELING…_**

****

His uneasiness was easily noticed.

****

**_I THINK MY FRIENDS ARE IN TROUBLE…_**

* * *

"…We have nothing to talk about!" Robin yelled, attempting to hit his opponent with a staff. The swing was evaded easily and Slade released a powerful hit to Robin's diaphragm. The teen's eyes widened in both pain and surprise at Slade's speed as he fell on all fours next to the still unconscious body of Alice Reynolds.

"Oh, but we do, child." Slade answered, towering him. "You see, my apprentice was rather a… Disappointment. No doubt I'll be taking care of him when this is all finished…"

Robin spat on his boots.

"…"

"You miserable bastard." The Teen Wonder hissed. "He helps you and you'd kill him. You are sick."

Slade slammed his boot against Robin's chin, drawing blood and a tooth.

"You are _defending _him?" He asked amusedly. "He tried to kill you and your little friends, and you defend him?"

"I don't give a rat's ass what happens to him." Robin growled, not minding his language. "But not even _he _deserves you."

"So hurtful." Slade replied dully.

The younger male forced himself to his feet with a great deal of struggle: Slade had got him _hard._

"Hmm. But getting back to the subject, Robin." The man continued, clearly not taking him as a threat. "Adam Matthews didn't help me out of his own free will, you must have known that by now; just as you must have known he didn't want to kill any of you. You must also know why. In any case, despite his best efforts, I'm afraid Adam just can't measure up to the task. Which brings us up to this: Would you consider taking on your previous role once again as my apprentice? You certainly handled the position better than Metatron."

Robin remained silent for a few moments, wondering if Slade was really this stupid.

"You gotta be kidding." He said finally.

"Yes, yes, I know. You are the little hero." Slade said, waving a hand. "But the fact is, Robin, that going by my teachings is on your best convenience. I can teach you things Batman's too afraid to."

"…Afraid?" Robin asked in confusion.

"Batman has not taught you everything he knows because he's afraid that you might someday choose my path. If that happens, he won't be able to stop you. Unless… He keeps your abilities limited."

Robin would have denied it… Except it did sound like the Batman he knew. Batman really didn't trust anyone completely. Not even his own family. No doubt he already had a plan devised to take each of his 'team' down should any of them betray him.

But Robin had grown to love Batman as a father. And he could live with his mistakes.

"Let's get something straight." He growled. "I'd rather kill my friends with my bare hands than work for you again."

Slade seemed rather taken aback by the way Robin had expressed his decision… But it quickly drowned under his calm façade.

"Fine then." He said, and leapt into action.

Robin stood, calmly waiting. Something was wrong, he wasn't defending… Nor he was planning to.

**BANG!**

The Starbolt threw Slade off-course by a mile: He was thrown into the monitors, shattering them and electrocuting himself out of it.

"I am, and forever will be, with the Titans." Robin smiled, Starfire floating next to him. "They are way more reliable."

Slade growled, as he attempted to get out of the wreckage. He should have known a little animal wouldn't be enough to stop the powerful Tamarenian, this was his mistake.

"Remain seated, I _insist_." Starfire ordered, throwing a good chunk of attacks towards the man.

This time they were evaded, Slade jumped high into the ceiling, readying his staff… Then it glowed black, along with his entire body. The man's eye widened as his staff was ripped from his grasp and his body was thrown against the wall with enough strength to break his bones, had he not be wearing protection.

Raven materialized from the shadows right behind him and seized him.

"Up for a scare?" She said before attempting the same technique she had used to render Metatron unconscious.

And found she couldn't.

Then found how painful it was to have an elbow rammed against your ribcage, before being thrown to the ground.

"RAVEN!" Starfire called out, Robin just frowned.

"Planning to mess with my head, girl?" Slade asked, gazing at her.

Raven sat up with a groan. Something was wrong, she hadn't been able to read _anything_. "How…?"

"My helmet blocks out your powers. Do not think I am as inexperienced as my last apprentice."

"Funny, you didn't see Beastboy hop into your leg." Robin pointed out.

Slade quickly took action and looked for the kid on his persona. He didn't found him.

A bluff.

"Up here."

For some reason, Slade actually looked up. I guess even the best of the best can't overcome the clichés. Anyhow, the moment he did, he found himself face-to-face with a green velociraptor.

"Hey, baby." It grinned before lashing Slade into the air with its tail. "For the record, Metatron could have fallen for this trick too."

Raven took the chance and quickly bended the possessed staff into an arc, catching Slade with it and encasing sides both sides of the pole to one of the walls.

As the Titans closed up on him, they realized Slade Wilson had been trapped.

And he realized he had made the same mistake his apprentice had done: He had lost control of the fight.

Suddenly they weren't so different.

* * *

_Tears… She couldn't stop crying._

_"Don't." _

_My voice betrayed me… I could remember how much I was trying not do break down as well._

_"Nobody blames you…" I whispered. "Anyone would have done the same in your situation. The will to survive is a powerful thing."_

_"But…"_

_"DON'T."_

_I whipped the tears from her cheeks._

_"…I'm scared…" She said, looking the part. "…I killed them…"_

_"No. You didn't kill anybody." I insisted for the twelfth time in the past hour. "You didn't kill her. You didn't kill him. You took revenge, that's all."_

_More sniffs came from Aura… She was weak… How did this fragile little girl do what I saw her do?_

_"Look, if you had killed anyone, I wouldn't help you. You know that." I needed to comfort her, desperately._

_"But… What if I end up killing you too?"_

_I froze. It took me a while to swallow that one._

_"…You won't. I know you."_

_She stared me with puffy eyes._

_"Trust me." I said with a smile. "In any case, I could probably hold my own against you."_

_She didn't find it funny._

_"…I'm scared…" She wept._

_"Don't be." I hugged her. "I'm here. I'll protect you."_

_"You promise?" She asked, breaking the hug after a while._

_"I promise."_

_I promise._

_Her face faded…_

_I promise._

_Slade Wilson appeared in her spot._

_I promise._

_He looked at him with hard eyes._

_I promise._

_He pressed the button._

_I promise._

_Wake up…_

His eyes snapped open.

"I promised." Metatron muttered, attempting to get up.

His strength failed him as he fell on his butt dizzily: It was like his brain was rebooting. And the aching was the first thing that returned to his conscious mind: The burns, cuts and overall damage to his body forced him to lie down for a couple more minutes.

"How did she sneak up on me like that?" He thought outloud, remembering what Raven had done to him. Not really aware of the fact that he had somehow waked up twenty-three hours forty-two minutes sooner than he should have.

Raven. The Titans. The ones that weren't here.

He sat up so fast his brain hit the back of his skull. Ignoring it, he looked around frantically; and his heart sank when he saw that he was indeed alone: The Titans had gone in after Slade.

He had failed. Again.

"No." He growled, forcing himself up. "No. It's not over."

He concentrated his remaining energy into one spot: In his brain, or in a specific nerve on it. It was an old trick he had learned to use when he was low on energy: Executing it on that specific nerve gave him an energy push equivalent to a very powerful sugar rush. With all its benefits: His attacks, speed and blows were as powerful as if he had been in top condition; and most importantly of all, he never gets tired.

However, no technique is perfect, and this one had its downside as well: It hard a time limit, and it was a short one, ten to thirty minutes. No more, no less. When the time limit was reached, he'd be lucky if he had enough life left in him to blink.

Nevertheless, He was out of options. Instantly the power surge through him anew. Fake power, but it would do.

"I have 17 minutes." Metatron clenched his fists a couple of times, ever amazed at how real the energy rush felt, even when he knew it wasn't. "I gotta use them well."

He sprinted towards the entrance.

* * *

"Heh. Bravo, children. You've managed to catch me by surprise. Congratulations." Slade said, smug confidence dripped from his words.

"You know, for someone who is about to go to jail, you are certainly taking it well." Robin commented, with his arms closed. Something was bugging him, as arrogant as he was, Slade shouldn't be so confident about this.

The remaining Titans were a bit separate from the two, deciding to let them have their chat.

"Hmm. I agree. But while you may have captured me…"

The explosion caught everyone but Slade by surprise.

"…I'm not going anywhere." He finished.

Robin managed to turn in time to see the fist going for his face, crushing his face with tremendous strength before he went flying against Starfire; the girl yelped in an attempt to catch him, but was dragged down along with him as well.

"What!" Beastboy exclaimed in shock, then he saw Metatron standing before Slade. "**_YOU!_**"

Raven was _more _than shocked.

"…But…" She sputtering in confusion as the golden-eyed teen cut the staff seizing his master with his claws. "…How…?"

"Damnit, what do we have to do to keep you down!" Beastboy yelled while Starfire got up along with a lightheaded Robin.

Metatron remained silent as he held up his hand, which grasped a yellow artifact.

Robin's utility belt.

The Teen Wonder gasped when he saw it, already thinking of the possibilities of Metatron's plan for the instrument.

"Catch." Metatron whispered, throwing the belt at them.

They all stared in confusion, even Slade. Then Metatron released an energy blast towards it. Robin's features showed horror.

**BOOM!**

Everyone in the room was thrown aback by the shockwave of the explosion, which pretty much blew off the entire roof of the lair. The Titans suffered the most damage though as the explosion had been much nearer to them than to the other individuals.

The aftermath showed it clearly: The Titans on the ground, still and unmoving. Metatron got up from one of the scraps of metal that had fallen on him because of the explosion, his master beneath him.

He ignored Slade's grunts of discomfort and made his way to the bodies. He found them breathing. They were alive.

Metatron stared in silent shock as they started groaning, waking up. _HOW THE HELL DID THEY SURVIVED AN EXPLOSSION OF THIS MAGNITUDE?_

Then he saw Starfire. Her leg had been badly burned and so had part of her face. Now he knew: The girl had seen it coming and knowing that her species handled heat far better, she took most of the impact with her own body. Except this was a great deal worse than a car explosion; heat-withstanding or not, this had to hurt like hell.

Metatron had to smile in some respect for her. Nevertheless, it quickly vanished; he still had a mission. He walked over to the ruins of the base and retrieved an oval artifact from one of the remaining compartments on the circular table; then he went back to the Titans, who were already getting up.

Robin was the first one that saw him coming. But there was nothing he could do: Metatron threw the oval artifact just right above their heads, where it hovered for a couple of seconds.

Then it suddenly emitted a dull orange energy that became a dome around them, sealing all of them in. The now conscious but less than ready Titans stood in confusion for a couple of seconds before one of the finally tried it.

"AHHH!" Beastboy yelped, having touched the shield with his hand, it had melted away the cloth with a hiss.

"Perfect." Robin muttered, holding Starfire up: The Tamarenian girl couldn't do so on her own. "Raven, get us out of here."

The telepath seemed to concentrate, but quickly gave up.

"I can't… It's disrupting my powers."

"Of course it is, it's designed to keep you in there." Metatron said from the outside, Slade stood behind him.

Robin saw his expression and knew something very wrong was about to happen.

"Titans restrained, Master." The apprentice commented before closing his eyes momentarily. "Proceeding to… Eliminate threat."

Once again, his glowing palm was aimed at the teens.

_Click._

It was soft, but his ears picked it up anyway.

Metatron's blood ran cold as the energy sphere vanished instantly. He felt confused and bewildered as he turned around, already knowing what he would find.

Not that it made it any easier.

Slade Wilson stood behind him, his left arm out, holding a black device with a single red button. Which had been pressed.

"…no…"

* * *

_Hisssssssss…_

The sound was fairly low and almost inaudible. But when you had barely heard any noise whatsoever for a long time, your ears were quite alert. This theory was proven correct as the little girl's strangely large ears twitched slightly when she registered the sound.

She seemed confused, as her read eyes scanned her pretty, if not somewhat corny, room for the source. It was kinda hard to miss actually: A strange greenish smoke was oozing from the built-in ventilation system, which was starting to fill the place rather quickly. At this rate, the entire room would soon be covered in it.

"…Huh?" She asked; her confusing growing by the second as she reached an arm out and waved the smoke, smoke that had already reached her knees and was making its way down to her ankles.

Her eyes widened when she realized she could no longer breathe.

* * *

No words have been exchanged since Metatron's realization, which left the Titans at the dark about what the hell had just happened. Just a couple of seconds ago, the kid before them was one step away from blasting them out of existence; now he stood frozen in place, staring at his master with a look of pure horror. They had good reason to be confused. Except one, who had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

Ironically, he currently knew more than Metatron himself: His brain appeared to have stopped working. He saw Slade before him, he saw the button pressed, he knew that was bad… Yet he couldn't remember why. He was only aware of the overwhelming mixture of panic, horror and strange confusion that reigned over his mind at the sight.

"B-but…" He finally managed to choke out. He stopped to wait for an answer, mainly because he had no idea what to say next.

Slade remained silent.

"Why…?"

Slade continued to ignore him, actually cracking his neck at the same time.

Around that time, after getting through his fog of confusion, was when it fully dawned on Metatron that the man before him may have already killed his sister. The expected outburst was anger, perfectly blended with horror.

"WHY?" He roared, tightening his fist and ignoring the cuts his claws made on his palm as a result. "WHY, YOU BASTARD? I FOLLOWED ORDERS! I LISTENED TO YOUR EVERY FUCKING COMMAND! I LOWERED MYSELF TO BE YOUR GODDAMN APPRENTICE! I FOUGHT AND GAVE MORE THAN I COULD HAVE! I BEAT THE TITANS!" The anger slowly slipped away from his voice, swiftly replaced by hysteria. "…I was even gonna kill them… I was gonna take fucking teenagers' lives. For you. BECAUSE YOU TOLD ME TO. FOR YOU! **_FOR YOU!_**"

Slade seemed completely unaware of the yelling. Metatron gaped at this as he suddenly felt too dizzy to stand and fell on his knees.

"ARGHH!" The child, whose panic attack had finally gotten the best of him, slammed his fist against the ground in frustration. "ANSWER ME, YOU SONUVABITCH!"

The man in question finally showed a sign that he was indeed listening as he slowly turned to face his apprentice. The look of complete revulsion his eye bared was enough to take Metatron aback.

"For me?" Slade asked, sounding like he found that whole concept hilarious. "Don't try to fool me or yourself, child. You never complied my orders because you so desired. You did it for that stupid little girl." He casually walked towards his apprentice. "And not even with her safety as motivation were you able to measure up. Even with the desire to save her, you still failed. Speaks volumes of your character, my failed apprentice."

"Shut up…" The other responded weakly. Then he seemed confused. "…Failed?"

"You were ordered to abduct Alice Reynolds and bring her without delay." Slade started, motioning dully towards the still comatose girl, who Starfire had managed to protect as well. "Yet you allowed yourself to be traced. You were ordered to keep the Teen Titans out off this room. Yet here they are. You were ordered to kill them. Yet they seem quite lively to me."

Slade stopped his pace, now right in front of the kid.

"But…" Metatron started, as the man knelt down until he was at face level with him.

"I would have killed her even if your mission had been successful."

Metatron paused in disbelief at the new information. "…What?"

Slade's one eyes twinkled slightly. He looked… _So. Freaking. CALM_.

"I had no use for her. And I planned to dispose of you after you came back." The man muttered calmly. How could he be human? "You failed two missions, Metatron. And when I considered getting rid of our leverage, you begged me to let that worm live. You were _pathetic_."

Icy silence filled the entire room as Metatron looked at the verge of a nervous breakdown. The confused features on the Titans had by now vanished: They knew enough. Beastboy and Starfire were actually starting to feel sorry for Metatron. Raven had retreated to the back, closing her eyes and meditating. Robin, on the other hand, looked angry. More at Metatron than Slade.

"Begged." Slade hissed, as if it was the foulest of swear words. "That alone let me know that you would never be what I am. That I had been wrong to think I could mold you… You were just weak, simple-minded creature." He seized Metatron by the hair; the kid didn't make a move to stop him: He was still trying to swallow the fact that no matter what he could have done, his sister's fate had been carved in stone from the beginning. "And now… Just like your precious sister, you are worthless. Therefore you have to die."

He got up slowly, pulling Metatron along, who still didn't fight him off. Slade heard the struggle behind him: The Titans knew what was going to happen, and like the little heroes they are, they want to save even the bad guy. How pathetically predictable.

Nevertheless, he paid no mind to them. He knew that in their current grasp of their skills, they couldn't get out no matter what.

Sadly, he was right.

"Don't take it personally, child." He whispered, as his hand tightened on the top of the teen's head. "You are just not useful to me anymore. This is the practical thing to do."

He would twist his hand in one swift move, breaking his neck instantly. He supposed Metatron had at least earned a painless death.

"…Where…"

Slade stopped and stared at the kid, who seemed to be struggling with the words.

"…W-where… Is she?"

The mercenary felt a bit perplexed: Metatron was still talking, therefore somewhat aware of his surroundings… Which meant he knew he was about to be killed. And yet he _still _seemed to care more about the girl's welfare than anything else in the world.

That fact that he was baffled was the only reason Metatron caught him by surprise.

"**_WHERE IS SHE?_**" He roared, suddenly very active, as he lifted Slade from the ground with one hand while aiming the other one at his head dangerously. "I HAVE TO HELP HER! I HAVE TO _SEE _HER! I WANT MY SISTER! **_WHERE IS MY SISTER?_**"

The words echoed through the place, probably being heard even by the police officers that had assigned a perimeter around the entire beach after it had become obvious that something of Metahuman standards was happening in it.

"Where. Is. She?" Metatron growled. Even with his entire body shaking, his palm glowed slightly. "**WHERE, _MY MASTER?_**"

There was a moment where Slade simply studied the teen who was lifting him with as much ease as anyone would with a penny.

"Titans' Tower."

Confusion reigned among everyone who had heard the phrase: The Titans gaped at the man even as Metatron's grip loosened. Had he been in better mental condition, he might have noticed Slade looked too calm for someone who was being threatened.

"…Titans' Tower?" Metatron asked.

"WHAT?" Robin questioned.

"Not in it, of course." Slade muttered, straightening his outfit. "But on the island, yes. Her cell is underground and was designed to easily bypass their security measures to avoid detection." He turned to Robin. "Which I recommend you upgrade, the code was fairly simple to crack."

The Boy Wonder glared in return. _He could have killed us in our sleep whenever he wanted to._

"The cell is programmed to automatically rise above ground right after the poison-releasing mechanisms are activated. It should be in plain sight by now, better hurry." Slade turned around to find Metatron no longer on his spot, but running towards the sea as fast as his legs could take him. "…Teens." He muttered. Usually used to express exasperation at the outburst of teenagers… But with Slade it sounded like 'can't believe it took you this long to go'.

"Aura Matthews is barely twelve." Robin's voice called from his 'dome'. "Did you actually just deliberately _kill _a _little girl?_"

Slade turned to find that all the Titans were glaring at him with intense hate. He didn't seem perturbed.

"She's not _that _innocent." He answered. "Now sit tight, children. The grand finale draws near."

* * *

"Do not attempt to move much, friend. Let your body get used to the new installments."

Cyborg did not listen as he flexed his arms and felt around his body with a grin.

"You are some kind of genius, Fixit." He complimented.

"How many kinds are there?" The robotic male asked, not getting the saying.

"Uh…" Cyborg stammered: This was one of the few times where he was at a loss of words. "I better check on the guys."

His built-in communicator called for the others… And didn't found them.

"Wha?" He asked himself in confusion and worry. "…Something must be jamming the signal." He decided, not wanting to consider what the other option might be.

"Someone is approaching." Fixit muttered, as he stared out the window. "At impressive speed."

"Hmm?" Cyborg asked, rushing to his friend's side. The first thing he noticed upon looking out was the complete wreckage on the beach in front of the island, and the cops forming a perimeter around it.

He was considered calling the police chief for information on what was happening when he saw him. As Fixit had already reported, a figure was quickly closing in to the island, via two large bat wings.

Metatron.

Cyborg's worry about his friend's health suddenly tripled.

"Stay here Fixit." He muttered; arming his sonic cannon as Metatron hastily landed on the island. "And be careful."

He left the room without another word.

* * *

She stumbled against her bed, dizzier by the second. Being a demon, she could hold her breath longer than humans could ever hope to… But not forever.

And Aura Matthews was reaching her limits, as tears streamed down her cheeks, the thick, greenish fog blinding her completely.

"HELP!" She yelled; terror now the dominant emotion in her entire body. Trying to hold back the desire to refresh her lungs, knowing that the very attempt would worsen her situation. "Help… please…"

She was slowly loosing her ability to speak… In the end, it didn't matter how much she screamed: The walls on the room were sound-proof.

_Help me…_

_…Adam…_

_Please…_

Her lungs screamed for oxygen. As much as she fought it, Aura is not a warrior; she had to give in… She finally took a deep breath.

Instantly it felt as if her lungs were burning.

_Please… You promised…_

Her entire body soon followed.

* * *

Metatron ran on the island like a wild animal, frantically looking for his sister's prison.

He didn't need to force himself. The cell was right next to the tower, bits of soil and rocks around it, as if it had made its way from underground. Which it had, but being as Metatron had rushed off before Slade finished his speech, he didn't know that.

"AURA!" He yelled as he ran towards it. The walls were still sound-proof.

His fist slammed against its door… And made the smallest dent possible.

"ARGH!" He roared in exasperation even as he started slashing, punching, kicking and blasting the door as much as he could.

He was making progress.

_Hang on… I'm coming… Please hang on…_

Very slow progress.

* * *

_I can't breathe… I can't SEE…_

Aura was on all fours now, now past the panic and having completely entered resignation to what was happening to her. So hot… Her entire body felt so _hot_… Scalding hot.

Strange noises came from her throat as she once again attempted to breathe. A brand new wave of unbearable heat surged through her body.

_You promised…_

Tears fell from her eyes, quickly evaporating on contact with her skin. She was gonna die and she knew it.

A slight ringing was heard on her ears, completely ignored.

_You lied…_

More tears. More resignation.

That ringing was starting to be bothersome.

_Why…?_

She slowly lay down on the ground. She felt… Neutral…

The ringing… No, it was racketing now… Was starting to hurt her ears.

_You said you loved me…_

"Ah…" She moaned, as her ears suddenly jolted in pain.

There was something wrong with that ringing…

_Why…?_

She gasped as the pain increased.

The ringing became a roar on her ears. She cried freely as she covered them in vain.

The roar didn't go away.

The heat didn't go away.

The pain didn't go away.

_WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME TO DIE?_

The roar grew louder.

Then all was silence.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

_Ah, the drama. The plot seems to be taking a rather soap-operaish turn, eh? Don't worry, I assure you that's not the case._

_So, did Aura really die? Well, you'll find out on Monday, won't you?_

_And now, I must award myself for the WORST chapter title on history. I dunno WHY I used it, I guess I was due for a little humor on this. (**NOTE: I changed my mind about the title at the last minute. The original version was 'Before you die, you hear the ringing'. You can see why I thought it was my worst idea yet. The new title is better, I suppose.**)_

_Aside from it, I hope you enjoy reading this._


	8. Chapter 07: Into the Darkness

**Chapter 07: Into the Darkness.**

_Fear…_

The feeling took over his self when he finally threw the door down, after much struggle.

Metatron took a deep breath, ignoring the painful stings coming from his fist as blood and skin tissue hanged from them; his gloves had been completely destroyed. He was then forced to hold his breath as a wave of greenish hot fog erupted from the room.

That made him realize he was wasting time. Still holding his breath, he crashed into the room and looked around for her. Through gaps in the parting fog, her body slowly became visible… Lying face down against the wall.

In a blur, Metatron picked her up and ran out. Then he turned to face the cell, from which the greenish smoke was still coming out.

"ARGH!" He roared, as both hands fired a massive shot through its door.

While the exterior metallic covering remained intact, the interior was quickly destroyed, dissipating the fog into nothingness.

With that done, Metatron once again turned his attention towards his sister. He noticed it for the first time: Her back, her legs, her skin… Her entire body was red as a lobster.

"Aura…?"

Gripped with the same fear that had haunted him since he stepped on the island, he dropped to his knees slowly and grabbed her shoulder. He almost recoiled from the heat.

"Aura…?"

Enduring her burning skin, he lifted her unconscious head towards him.

No… Not unconscious…

"Aura? AURA? …Please?" He begged, as the reality sunk in, even though he didn't want it to.

Aura stared back at him with vacant, wide-eyed terror, her flesh swollen and red, her mouth locked open in a silent scream.

"Aura…?" Metatron insisted, his voice betraying him.

No. No answer.

Holding his sister tightly on his arms, Metatron knew that Aura would never answer him again.

_Fear often evolves into grief…_

"Don't move."

Metatron had his back on him, but he knew it was Cyborg. He didn't care, not anymore. All he wanted was to hold her sister on his arms until the Apocalypse.

"Stay where you are." Cyborg muttered, his cannon locked on Metatron. He slowly made his way towards him.

Cyborg paused when he noticed he was shaking.

"Where are the Titans?"

Metatron ignored him as he continued shaking slightly.

"Where are my friends, Metatron?" He almost growled.

After a couple of seconds, Cyborg thought he was being ignored again. But a loud sniff made him reconsider.

"Adam." Metatron whispered.

Cyborg's cannon lowered just a bit. "Huh?"

"My name is Adam." Adam, as he wanted to be called, turned to Cyborg.

The robotic teen instantly noticed the girl on his arms. He gasped as he rushed over to their spot, disarming his cannon.

"Good Lord…" He muttered, as he checked on the girl. "She's…"

"I know." Adam muttered. He didn't want anyone to say it outloud.

"Who is she?"

"Aura."

Silence.

"…I'm sorry."

"A lot of good that's gonna do."

Cyborg understood his pain, he had gone through it with his father… And he knew he couldn't help. Adam's eyes glowed slightly as tears made their way out of them.

Cyborg didn't want that pain again…

"Met—Adam, where are my friends?" He asked. "You have to tell me."

Adam remained silent.

"They are…" He started slowly before his eyes flashed slightly, as if he had just been reminded of something. "With the one who did this."

Cyborg recoiled in surprise when he companion suddenly jumped to his feet.

_Anger drowns grief…_

"Your hands…" Cyborg realized. They were still a mess from Adam's efforts to open the door. "HEY! Where are you going!"

Adam stopped on his tracks after having taken a couple of steps towards the beach; when he turned to Cyborg, his face was hard and determined… Though dried tears were noticeable on his face, decreasing his menacing resolve.

"Your friends are alive." Adam muttered. "I'll bring them back. _After _I take care of someone."

"Lead the way." Cyborg responded, getting to his feet as well. Mostly because most evidence showed that he shouldn't trust a word from… Metatron.

"I'm going alone." Adam stated firmly.

"No, you are not." Cyborg insisted. As pained as the kid seemed to be, he was still a villain, trusting him would be a stupid thing to do. Especially when he was clearly hinting his desire to take the life of a person.

"Yes. I am." The 'villain' said. A strange calm waved over his face. Cyborg found it disturbing. "I'll be back and when I do, you are welcome to throw me in a cell to rot if you want to if so you desire."

Cyborg started rising his cannon once again, but was surprised went Metatron took off towards the beach on mid-act. He considered shooting the teen once he took flight after reaching the water, but decided he couldn't get a clear shot due to his superior speed.

And that worried him. Metatron had been faster than him during his previous encounters, but now he was going _too _fast. He knew the kid was faster on his legs than on his wings, and he had speculated his maximum speed on ground was 74 miles per hour. Metatron was currently flying at roughly 93 mph.

And when he had run… Cyborg wasn't sure, but he could have sworn Metatron took a couple of steps above water surface before using his wings. But that was impossible, he didn't have that kind of speed.

Did he?

Snapping himself out of shock, Cyborg quickly tried to figure out a way to follow him.

* * *

"Come on… ACK!" Robin exclaimed in pain as he pulled back. When he thought Slade wasn't watching, he had taken his lone emergency Birdarang from his boot and attempted to sabotage the machine above their heads with it. It seemed to be working before an electric discharge had forced Robin's hand away. 

Slade's lone chuckle made him forget the pain.

"Come now, Robin." The man muttered, looking at them from the outside of the deathly orange energy-dome. "I created that little gizmo myself. It was made specifically to keep you in. Do you really think there's a way for you to come out?"

Robin did not answer. He simply glared. Or he would have, if not for the gigantic rock crashing violently into the spot where Slade was, shaking the ground and forcing him to fall on his butt. His companions didn't too much better. Robin goggled at the massive boulder even as Slade landed on top of it, having clearly seen it coming and evaded it. The rock was at least 5 times his size, who the hell was strong enough to…?

"**_SSSSSSSLADDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_**"

The mad scream almost deafened the teens, forcing them to cover their ears in pain.

"Dude, what the hell…?" Beastboy started before silencing himself as Metatron walked in. He instantly felt afraid. Starfire followed suit. The remainder two looked a bit taken aback however.

Whatever calm Metatron had gained during his conversation with Cyborg, it had clearly been lost during his trip back: The kid barely looked human anymore. He stood on a hunched position, his breathing heavy and uneasy, nostrils and mouth letting out heavy steam every time he exhaled; his face was contorted into an expression of feral rage.

And as always, Slade didn't seem to care.

"Yes?" The man asked in a casual, almost sing-songish, voice.

_From anger, hate is easily achieved…_

"**DIE!**" Metatron responded, and launched an energy release to the monster. The blast was easily the size of a small car.

Slade dodge the deathly attack, but it still hit the rock and soil behind him, causing an explosion that shook everyone off their feet. Including the attacker.

Metatron quickly stammered to his feet and stared at his still glowing hand in confusion. How the hell…?

The same question popped into Robin's head as he stared at the crater created by the impact of the energy with a stupefied expression. If he had had this much power, why didn't he use it when fighting them? How did he even make an attack like that without draining himself totally?

Slade cocked his head slightly once he sighted the hole.

"This is… Unexpected." He muttered.

And then Metatron was on his face.

"MURDERER!"

The fist missed by a mile, pulverizing a boulder as Slade sidestepped away. Metatron's brain never processed the pain and he went into the offensive again.

"GODDAMN BASTARD!" He continued swearing and spitting, trying desperately to strike a blow at the man before him. He got no such luck, all his blows were evaded.

He paused eventually, needing air. The small break was all the mercenary needed as he took the change and savagely buried his fist against Metatron's solar plexus. Slade felt the kid's body tense up… And then relax.

Then he felt his fists hammered against the side of his face as Metatron flipped himself in mid-air and attacked, this time actually hitting home. Slade's body went flying a good distance before finally crashing against one of the metallic ruins that were left of his lair. He fell and didn't move, though amazingly, his mask had survived with little more than a crack.

Metatron stared at the body as he felt himself getting warmer from the battle. So warm in fact, he felt somewhat dizzy. He ignored both and started walking towards the man he now hated more than anything on the earth.

"What are you doing!" Beastboy's voice came. "You've already beaten him! Good! Now can help us get out of here already?"

The demonic-looking teen turned to face the green one, finding some happiness and hope in his eyes. Metatron saw it vanish as his lips curved into a twisted smile.

"Let you out?" He asked. "Why the hell would I do that now?"

Beastboy's eyes widened in surprise: He had thought Metatron had changed sides. The rest of the captive members knew better, but none fault him for it.

"But…"

"Did you actually believe for one second…" Metatron interrupted. "That I would help you now? Just like that? So you can stop me from what I want to do?"

"And what would that be?" Robin growled, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, getting revenge, mutilating a supposed invincible man." The other replied, turning to him. He noticed Robin didn't look surprised at the answer. "You know, the usual."

"You can't kill him!" Starfire suddenly shouted.

Metatron blinked for a couple of seconds before he started laughing. Maniacally, forcing the girl to shrink back in intimidation.

"I _can't _kill him?" He repeated, mockingly. "Wise up, will ya? There's a dead 11 year old girl on your beach. My sister, as I'm sure you know. Murdered way before her time. All because of him." He turned to the spot where the body laid, covered by rock, metal and glass. "I can't kill him? No, girl. I can't."

His form intensified as a wave of warm air washed over the titans. It was strangely relaxing even through the situation.

"But I've _earned _the fucking right to." He finished, making his way to the body. "And I'll be DAMNED if I let you stop me."

"You are insane." Raven hissed.

Metatron paused for a second.

"Yes, I am." He said sadly. Then continued walking. "But I'm still sane enough to know it."

"DON'T DO IT." Robin half roared, half warned.

"Fuck off."

"Dude, enough! Let us out, you can't do this!" Beastboy yelled.

"I'll let you out after I'm done, you can do whatever the hell you want with me afterwards. I'm going to jail anyways, might as well earn a good spot."

All other warnings were ignored until Metatron finally reached the rubble. And found that his prey was not there.

"…What the fuc…?"

"You talk too much, child."

His eyes widened as he quickly turned around, only to be thrown back into the ground by something hard slammed across his face. He groaned a bit before recognizing a sharp object dangerously closing in to his face. He rolled away as the weapon dug into the ground like a spear: Apparently Slade had managed to get his hands on another staff.

Metatron massaged the sore spot on his face and spat a bit of his tooth before focusing on the man before him. Despite being hit by one of his strongest punches, his former master did not look harmed in the slightest. In fact, he looked well-rested.

"Pfft. Whatever." Metatron scoffed. "I was gonna make it quick, but _sure_, make it fun for me. Why not?" He released his claws with a sound resembling blades being unsheathed.

"Once again, talk. Too. **_MUCH!_**" Slade said, yelling the last word as he swung the staff at him.

Having seen it coming, it was easily evaded. But in doing so, Metatron ran straight into Slade's awaiting steel-toed boot, throwing him flat on his back. The enraged teenager didn't even seem to register that pain as he instantly stood up with a roar tackling Slade into the ground.

Once again, Slade use the momentum of the tackle to throw Metatron off him. This time his tactic didn't prove fruitful as Metatron landed on his feet and ran right up to the one-eyed man at speeds that would have made any non-speed-force user pause.

And Slade happened to fall in that category as he stopped in mid-action of getting to his feet.

"You are going to die." Metatron muttered. Sadistic desire could not have been more obvious.

Slade tried to attack again.

He was stopped by Metatron's fist sinking itself into his gut, with such strength it literally shook the ground where they stood. Nobody saw him move.

"Accept it. Let me _kill _you." Metatron continued as he felt the man's body begin to collapse. "Let me… _Please._" His voice broke on a combination of a laugh and a sob. "I need to…"

Slade's body was almost to its knees when Metatron threw a fierce kick against his face. His body went flying until it was abruptly stopped by rubble. It was a wonder how his head wasn't ripped off… Or how his mask remained intact.

Metatron covered his upper face with both hands, distractedly cutting himself with his claws as he continued to laugh and sob.

"I want to…" He whispered crazily. "It'll make that pain go away… It'll make it right again… I don't want this pain…"

He stood there for a couple of seconds, perhaps forgetting where he was.

From his place, Slade forced himself into a sitting position. Beneath his mask, Slade wasn't worried. Hell, he wasn't even tired. He was, however, annoyed. One single question popped into his head constantly:

How much longer?

* * *

The Titans hated their condition. They were helpless, useless. They couldn't do anything. 

They were the heroes.

And yet they had been confined into the sidelines.

There was nothing that could have been done.

They were surprised that Metatron was actually winning, but it didn't stop them from shouting and trying to persuade him to stop.

All the words fell into deaf ears. He wasn't listening.

Robin was very aware of this, which was why he wasn't shouting along with his friends. He was worried about this. Metatron may have said he was still sane enough to be aware of his insanity. But he doubted that was the case anymore.

In situations of extreme stress, all beings return to their prime and primitive way of thinking. Their basics instincts. Their desire to survive.

They became animals.

Animals that extremely disliked pain. That ran away from it. That did everything they could think of to kill their pain.

Metatron had reached that state.

He was a beast. He wasn't going to be stopped.

And he had power. More than what he should have. A lot more.

Where was he getting all of it?

* * *

**_Kill him… I have to kill him…_**

_No… I shouldn't…_

**_I WANT TO…_**

_It's not right…_

**_He killed her… I WANT LEVERAGE._**

_It's not going to bring her back…_

**_IT WILL DESTROY MY PAIN…_**

_She's dead…_

**_Going to kill him…_**

_But…_

**_LEVERAGE. A life for hers…_**

_But… This power… It's already been 23 minutes… I shouldn't have any power left…_

**_IT'S A SIGN. I'm meant to kill him!_**

_Where am I getting this power from? It's too much…_

**_It's helping me… It was given to me so I can end my pain…_**

_Too much power…_

**_MY power._**

_Why… Why is it so hot?… I feel like I'm burning…_

**_It's the heat of the battle…_**

_I… I don't want to kill anyone…_

**_I'm nearing the end of my pain… I just have to deliver the finishing blow…_**

_She's not coming back… It hurts…_

**_Killing him eases the pain…_**

_I don't want to be a murderer…_

**_I WANT REVENGE…_**

_I… I don't…_

**_I NEED REVENGE._**

_I… do._

**_I'm going to kill him…_**

_I am…_

**_I'll enjoy it._**

_I will._

**_REVENGE._**

_Revenge._

* * *

"Revenge…" 

The word was followed by a dim, but steadily increasing glow on Metatron's palms: Within seconds, a newly formed energy blast was formed. Three times bigger than the first one.

Slade had gotten to his feet when he noticed the light.

"**ROT, MOTHERFUCKER!**"

Metatron released the blast, targeting the man before him. Slade's eyes widened when he saw the magnitude and size on it. He was momentarily surprised at the sheer power behind the blast… And then…

It struck.

The shockwave from the impact was enormous, shaking the ground violently and reducing everything it struck to ashes and debris. The Titans lost their balance, falling to their knees. Sparks flashed from the device hovering over their heads, due to the recent violent disturbance to its environment, and the dome imprisoning them staggered a bit.

The teenagers looked up in hope. And were very disappointed when the device did not yield after that damage. They were still stuck.

None of that mattered to Metatron, who squinted his eyes through the smoke, trying to see the results from his attacks. He had put too much energy into that blast: He was having trouble breathing.

Robin didn't know what to do or say: Metatron had just made an attack with power he had thought only possible on a goddamn DBZ anime. What the hell is going on here? How?

Raven snapped him out of it.

"…Robin." She whispered.

Though still mute out of surprise, he turned to her.

"What is it?"

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" She asked, focusing on Metatron.

Robin turned to Metatron, at first confused. But he noticed it eventually: The teen looked flustered, his skin was slowly getting a dull-red pixel.

And…

The smoke… It had been created as a result from his attack. But some of it was different… It looked like steam… It looked like it was coming OUT of him.

Was he… _fuming_?

* * *

The smoke finally cleared up enough for Metatron to actually see the results. 

It could be summed up into a gigantic crater that could someday become quite a prosperous lake.

And no body. Had he used too much energy? Had Slade been reduced to ashes?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

"Please, child." Came the voice. "Did you really think I would just stay in place and wait for death like a fool?"

Metatron quickly shot a blast in the direction of the voice: It hid a rock nearby the crater. But not before Slade had jumped out of his hiding place.

He landed swiftly about ten feet from Metatron.

"Impressive power." The man complimented. "But how is it going to help you when you have no idea what you are doing?"

The teen let out a mad scream as he fired again. Slade dodged. He fired again, it was dodged again. And again. And again.

"JUST **DIE!**" Metatron yelled as he fired crazily, aimlessly while Slade ran around and dodged the attacks without much effort. He was closing in on him.

Eventually he stopped and staggered backwards. He must have really been using a lot of energy: He felt extremely under the weather. His body still felt like it was on fire.

Heat of battle, he thought as he held his head dizzily.

Slade was already in front of him, staff at hand.

"Stupid child." He said as he swung the weapon at him. "What made you think you were anywhere on my level?"

The staff clashed… Into Metatron's waiting hand. Slade was surprised, Metatron used it and pushed the weapon back, slamming it into the man's chest and forcing him to let go.

Slade staggered.

Metatron's hand were already glowing even as he twisted the staff into a pretzel.

"I… Said…" Slade looked up in time to see the massive blast on the kid's palms. The same size as the one he had evaded earlier. "**DIE!**"

The blast connected to Slade at point blank. It wasn't evaded this time.

The gigantic explosion that followed threw Metatron back, seeing as he too had been at ground zero of it.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Beastboy yelled as he was violently thrown into the ground by the shockwave.

"What.. Power…" Starfire whispered, as she barely managed to keep on her feet.

"Where is he getting it all?" Raven questioned herself. "He shouldn't be able to do that… He should be dead…"

Robin remained silent. He was starting to have an idea as to how had Metatron obtained his massive power up.

He hoped to God he was wrong.

* * *

Metatron could feel his head throbbing under the pressure he was forcing on it. The slight ringing on his ears due to the explosion wasn't helping either. 

But he once again ignored as a jolt of satisfaction surged through his body as he saw Slade's blackened and smoking body fall to the ground, near the Titans, who recoiled at the sight.

He was somewhat annoyed the after his attack, Slade still HAD a body. But at least…

"It is done…" He whispered, trying to keep his ground even though his knees were shaking. "It is done…" He repeated, waiting for the happiness to finally realize this fact and for it to come to him.

It never came.

And the pain didn't die.

Metatron stayed silent for a couple of seconds. Slade was dead… He had leverage. WHY WASN'T HE HAPPY?

The kid slowly fell to his knees, the question screaming in his mind. Had he done something wrong? Maybe he hadn't killed him the right way. Maybe… Maybe he still had something else to do…

Maybe… Maybe he'd--WHY WERE THOSE DAMN KIDS STARING AT HIM LIKE THAT? He had to do it! He needed to! He wanted to make the pain go away!

But it never left.

And now the Titans stared coldly, silent, uncaring. Like Metatron wasn't human. Like he was not even capable of logical thinking.

"Why…" He whispered. He felt faint and dizzy. His ears hurt slightly. "Why? It is done… Then wh--?"

"No, it's not. Matthews."

Metatron froze up. No, it wasn't impossible…

Slade swiftly sat up and stood, as if he had jus laid down for a breather.

Metatron just stared. Then he laughed. Then he sobbed.

"...Why can't you just die?" He asked weakly. So _that's _why he wasn't happy: Slade was still alive. "I thought… Why won't you just…? You…"

Slade stood silently.

"Heh…" Metatron started, getting up. "Heh… Hehehe Heheh… Fine then… If I can't blow you up…"

His eyes flashed as both hands adopted a paw position.

"**THEN I'LL TEAR YOU UP!**"

He charged.

"Get us out of here!" Robin suddenly yelled at Slade. He, like Metatron, didn't know how the hell the man before him was alive, but seeing the teen do what he did had made him decide.

Never taking his eyes off the charging teen, Slade responded.

"Why should I?"

"Don't be stupid!" Robin answered. "Wherever this power is coming from, it's obvious he has plenty of it! He _will _overpower you!"

Slade didn't reply.

"He wants to kill you!" Robin continued. "And he will! Metatron has to be stopped. And you need us for that! At least with us, you'll only be thrown to jail."

Slade remained silent. Metatron was mere feet from them now. For some reason, he seemed slower… And seemed to have some trouble breathing.

"He's right, you know." Raven said, as he saw the kid approach. His conduct was curious at the very least.

Robin waited for an answer. Slade was a man of logic, he knew he couldn't win. Robin expected him to accept his offer, and probably escape after Metatron had been subdued.

He didn't, however, expect him to laugh.

"Please." Slade said, even as Metatron stopped his charge 5 feet from him. "I don't need the help of children to deal with a failed apprentice."

Metatron would have felt insulted, if it wasn't because he was so focused in ripping Slade to pieces. He walked towards his target, who didn't move.

"I could have taken him out any time I wanted to." Slade continued as Metatron reduced the little space between them severely. "But why not allow him to suffer if he so desires? Don't fool yourself, Robin. I don't need your help to beat this child."

"Shut… Up…" Metatron hissed, breathing loudly as if he were asthmatic, before stretching out a clawed hand.

"In fact…" Slade continued, as Metatron's hand suddenly tensed mere inches from his neck. Which didn't go unnoticed. "I daresay I don't need to do anything to win."

Metatron's eyes widened as his entire body spasmed ever so slightly, his mouth making awkward shapes as if trying to scream.

"He's already done it for me." Slade's triumphant voice said.

Robin grimaced: He had been right. The other Titans, who didn't knew what Robin knew, were confused, wondering if the kid had had a change of heart. They knew they were wrong when Metatron's still-spasming body slowly feel on all fours.

Confusion was evident on Metatron's eyes, who seemed to be struggling to breathe. And he was: Every attempt to inhale air proved painful to him, and he had no idea in hell why that was happening.

Maybe it was better he didn't knew what Robin did. But it certainly didn't stop him from trying to find out. His hand seized Slade's ankle.

"…You…" He managed to choke out between gasps. "You… Did … This …To…"

Slade kicked that hand away.

"Give me some credit." The man growled, sounding insulted. "If I had done this, you would have died a lot sooner, boy."

"…Shut…" Metatron managed to get out, before he was forced to grab his throat involuntarily, desperate to get oxygen on his lungs. Every attempt lighted his inside in fire. Or it damn sure felt like it.

"Honestly, boy." Slade commented. "Who in the hell is foolish enough to run straight into a room when said person knows for a fact is completely filled with an extremely poisonous gas?"

The question clicked into everyone's mind as it sank in their minds. Metatron gagged involuntarily: His 'heat of battle' had tripled in the last few seconds.

The Titans fell silent as their eyes directed at the kid kneeling in front of his soon-to-be killer. Robin growled: He _had _to do something, he needed to get out, and he needed a plan.

Nothing came to mind.

Because there was nothing he could do.

"..But…" Metatron had regained his speech ability. For now. "I… I held…"

He was interrupted as Slade's boot rammed against his face, throwing him on his back.

"I asked you to give me some credit, child." Slade said. "I'm _Deathstroke_, the _Terminator._ I did not gain that name easily, I know how to make the perfect kill." He locked eyes with his apprentice. "That poison gets into your system by inhaling it. But it also works by skin contact. It just happens to take longer to kill on those conditions."

Silence reigned as Metatron proceeded what he was hearing. Which was hard: He had suddenly become aware that the ringing on his ears he had got from his last attack wasn't leaving… In fact, it was getting stronger.

"Burning death." Robin growled when no one else said anything.

Slade and the Titans turned to him. Metatron didn't hear him.

"A greenish powder. Poison that increases the body temperature of the victim until they are literally cooked alive." The Teen Wonder continued, his eyes never faltering from Slade's.

"Correct, Robin." Slade said, sounding pleased. Then he turned to his apprentice, who was fuming noticeably by now. "A painful way to die, actually. There had been some rumors of a haunting ringing on your ears before dying, but I guess you'll find out s… Hmm."

While he spoke, Metatron had dragged his body up to Slade's feet. Locking eyes with him, the man knew the kid hadn't given up yet.

"I see… Still trying, even when you've lost. Not a wise trait, Adam." He muttered. "I must admit, the side effect the poison had on you _was _somewhat unexpected. Though that was foolish of my part: Though unexpected, it was also obvious."

Metatron's anger faltered for a second and was replaced by confusion. It must have shown on his face.

"Dear God. You have no idea what I'm talking about." Slade said, looking irritated at the kid's ignorance. "Did you actually believe for a second that your sudden considerable increase in power was due some cosmic accident or the result of your righteous anger?"

Slade was given no answer. Truth is, Metatron had thought that.

"Think, child, THINK. I know it's new but this happens to be very simple." Slade's exasperated tone came. "WHERE does you power come from?"

Metatron didn't answer: He didn't have the energy to.

But he knew what was the answer. And so did Robin, recalling what Batman had told him. And so did the Titans, recalling the information on Metatron they were given soon after Cyborg's wounded body was found.

Body heat.

All of Metatron's abilities came from his body heat, he wasted bits and parts of it for every power (from claws-forming to energy releases) he used. After being infected with a poison that worked by heating the body nonstop up to incredible measures, it was like having a near-infinite source of power at your disposal. Which Metatron did.

That is… Until the damaging effects of the poison kicked in.

"Fool." Slade muttered once he knew Metatron understood what he meant. "You never take what you have for granted. You figure out where it came from, or it could be the end of you. This is life, child. You don't get godly powers out of righteous anger or some cosmic whim. There's always a reason. Good or bad. Now let yourself die. An idiot's death."

No movement came from the child before him. Slade was starting was starting to turn away.

"…No…"

The man stopped and stared down. Metatron clung to his ankle. He still fought to live. Impressive.

"I can…" He stammered, fighting to get the words right. "I can still…"

I can still kill you.

Then I can die peacefully.

"Still kill me?" Slade guessed at Metatron's half-finished sentence, making no move to stop him as the child desperately tried to get up.

Metatron tried to form one more attack… And found he no longer had any control over his energy.

Just one more. To end it.

It was no use: He couldn't concentrate. The heat was too much. The ringing was driving him insane.

HE COULDN'T DIE WITHOUT TAKING THIS BASTARD WITH HIM.

Slade was suddenly face to face with him. Metatron never saw him crouch, his senses were too dull.

"Kill me?" The man repeated. "Haven't you realized yet, Adam? Even after that little attack of yours that actually hit me? You can't. Hell," he continued, his hands reaching for his helmet. "Even if you destroy this body…" He added, de-attaching the front mask with a clicking sound. "I'll… Still…"

**Clang!**

The mask fell to the ground.

"Live."

Metatron found himself staring at a miniature Slade inside the Slade in crouched in front of him. After a while, he finally realized he was looking at a small computer screen on the man's head.

"…Oh…" Metatron whispered after blinking a couple of times.

A robot.

"Child, I learn from my mistakes." The Slade on the computer screen said: Probably safe thousands of miles away. "I never trusted you. And, unlike Robin, you never actually had any true contact with me. And yet… You never noticed. Even _after_ that attack of yours hit me at point blank. How else did you think I could have survived an attack of that magnitude?" He added, shaking his head in some amusement. "I'm a master strategist, Adam Matthews. Even through your powers and your outbursts… YOU NEVER HAD ANY CHANCE AT KILLING ME."

Even through the horrible never ending ringing, Metatron heard him. He didn't need to: He already knew.

At the end of the line… There really hadn't been any chance for salvation after all.

No hope.

"Finally giving up, I see." Slade commented as Metatron rested his head on the ground.

No hope whatsoever.

He could no longer hear Slade, or the Titans calling to him.

He was only aware of the ringing and the heat.

He just wanted everything to end.

Just… An end. For everything.

And as he lay there, his heart took its last beats.

And the half-demon Adam Matthews, Metatron, silently ceased to exist.

_Hate will always lead to suffering…_

* * *

Robin stood within his prison, still helpless to do anything but stare at Metatron's still body. He knew he was dead. 

He hadn't been able to beat the bad guy in time.

Those sentiments were shared by his teammates as they quietly observed the scene. Some couldn't help but wonder what would become of them now, but they still felt at a lost: They weren't supposed to lose the life of anyone. Good or evil. Or gray, as they considered Metatron.

They didn't notice the Slade-robot get up and walk up to them until it was right in front of their noses. Robin held his gaze with Deathstroke the Terminator, the cold-thinking murderer.

"Well…" Slade said, from his screen. Without the mask to hide the truth, the robot body now stood lazily. "It seems that the post of my apprentice has reopened as of…" He turned to Metatron's body before continuing. "Hmm… Two or three minutes ago."

The glares the Titans gave him went unnoticed as the man directed his attention to Robin.

"So, what are your thoughts, Robin?" He asked. "Would you mind reconsidering taking your place as my new apprentice once again? After all, that was why I stopped Metatron from killing you and your friends back when he first captured you in this ingenious orange dome."

Silence befell as the words reached their ears.

Robin blankly stared at the man for a couple of seconds. And then he screamed.

The only reason he didn't jump and died at the hands of the dome while trying to get to the robot was because his teammates saw it coming and restrained him in time. They didn't, however, cover his mouth.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Robin bellowed angrily. "WHAT? YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BE THIS INSANE! YOU'VE JUST _KILLED_ YOUR OWN PROTÉGÉ! AND NOW YOU ASK ME TO TAKE HIS PLACE? **WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?**"

Though his teammates were busy restraining him, it was obvious they agreed. Slade simply looked annoyed at the noise.

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed." He commented. "Robin, you know better than to take me for a maniac. I don't particularly enjoy taking lives. This was simply business." He waved his hands boringly. "Adam Matthews was a business project I thought had potential. I was wrong and it proven hazardous to my work, so the project had to be abandoned and removed. And of course, with it went the stakes of its success: In this case being Aura Matthews. Simple business and nothing more. Though I admit there were the times when the exasperation at the fruitless efforts of the project caused me great frustration. _Be the lotus_, I suppose."

Robin stared at him. But it wasn't him who answered.

"Lives are not a business, Slade." Starfire said, her eyes glowing dangerously. "You are lower than most scum just by considering they are. Robin, Robin of the Teen Titans, does not think that way. He never will."

"You've heard her. Robin is with the Titans." Beastboy joined. "Now let us out of this thing so we can show you just how much potential the Titans 'project' has."

Raven remained quiet, giving her silent concur but at the same time knowing there was no point in the words when they were directed to someone like Slade.

She was right.

"Yes… I suppose so." Slade muttered even as Robin gave him a defiant smile. He looked somewhat disappointed. "Sad. I could have taught you quite a few things…"

Starfire finally released her restrain on the Boy Wonder, who was wondering what to do now.

"I suppose things won't always go the way you hope they will…" Slade muttered. "Well, I must admit, it has been fun while it lasted, Titans… But I'm afraid…"

The kids instantly looked up in alarm, expecting something bad.

"…Playtime is over." Slade whispered. And then the screen went blank.

Silence.

"…Hmm… Dude?" Beastboy said, talking to Robin. "What just happened? And if the answer is 'it's over' then how do we get out of here?"

Robin was about to say something… But was stopped as Slade's robot head beeped.

Jerking his head so fast it hurt, the Titan leader looked up in time to see the computer screen, while its background was still black, now had a glowing red number on its center.

**5…**

Just business, Robin.

"OH SHIT!" Raven suddenly yelled, it would have been funny that she of all people said it… But not even Beastboy felt like laughing right now.

**4…**

Robin fell to his knees. He had failed. And his mistake was going to cost him his life. And the ones of his friends. Even if Starfire tried to take the explosion again, she was too weak, she would die…

And they would follow.

**3…**

He was ready to cry. Then he felt a wave of sound suddenly flying over his head.

He looked up in time to see the remains of the artifact that held him and his team captive fall to the ground, battered and destroyed. The orange dome vanished instantly.

"GUYS!"

**2…**

They all turned to see Cyborg standing no more than ten feet from them. The black teen had been shocked when he destruction and the bodies on the ground as he had made his way into the ruined lair, but when he saw his friends captive, his training had reacted.

Much like Robin's was as the teen forced himself out of shock and relief.

"RAVEN!" Robin yelled quickly. "GET US OUT OF HERE! TAKE THE REYNOLDS GIRL TOO!"

**1…**

Raven tried to concentrate. She had never done something like this before.

"HURRY!" Robin yelled in semi-panic.

**0.**

Too late.

**_BOOM!_**

Just business.

* * *

**_BOOM!_**

Lieutenant James LaMarr was an experienced 50-year-old cop. Veteran and well-liked, he was good at his job and actually liked doing it, something not often seen now-days. As such, he hated the times where he had no idea what to do next.

He specially despised this moment above all the others.

"What should be do, sir?" One of the men under his orders asked for the fifth time.

"We wait more." He growled, making sure to shut him up with his voice.

The lieutenant himself wasn't sure this was the best choice of action, but frankly it probably was the one that would save his skin. Whatever was happening on the Jump City beach obviously fell on the Metahuman's jurisdiction. At first, the kidnapping of Alice Reynolds was the main worry of his Department. But then, barely half an hour later, thousands among thousands of killer-robots that were now nothing more than smoking 'corpses' had rampaged on the city beach, dragging their attention.

By the time they had gotten here, however, two members of the local Metahuman team were already taking care of it. He figured the best choice of action was to put a perimeter around the area, which he did. Then he planned to wait.

Which he did. For a long while.

He was tempted to send his men in to find out what was going on when an explosion blew up the cave near shore. That quickly made him change his mind. He waited more.

Not long after, he looked at a figure running from the place and toward Titan's Tower. Roughly five minutes later, the same figure came back. He or she made his presence be known as a big explosion was heard as soon as (s)he arrived.

Not long after. More explosions. And more. And more.

And then… Nothing.

Quiet for a long time.

After what seemed like an eternity, a flying car actually landed near the cave and a bulky figure got out and ran into the rubble.

A minute passed since that event when he finally got tired and sent his troops into the cave.

Metahumans, monsters or freaks; he would go against them.

His men had taken five or six steps when the last explosion was heard, actually causing some of the men to lose their balance.

And now here he was, waiting. Again.

What in the HELL was going on in that place?

"ACK!"

The yell made everyone jump as they turned around to the source: One of the officers, who was scared out of mind and aiming a gun to what seemed to be a roughly formed shadow.

It seemed to be trying to take a shape. A bird, perhaps?

That question shall remain unanswered for now as the 'bird' shadow slowly vanished, revealing a colorful group sitting beneath it.

The Teen Titans.

Raven stood in front of them with a look of painful concentration on her face. That is, before she fell backwards dizzily.

Beastboy, being the closest one at the time, caught her before she hit the ground.

"You ok?" The green teen asked. The sorceress only nodded in response.

"You did it, Raven." Starfire said, walking up to her friend and giving her a hug. "You saved us."

"Mind telling me what went on in that place?" Cyborg asked Robin, looking like the guy who only saw the second half of a movie.

The Teen Wonder didn't answer as he checked on Alice Reynolds. She'd be fine. Though she was going to need to rest in bed for a while.

Then his eyes fell on the second still body in the group: Metatron. He had been teleported out as well. Robin's eye met with Raven's quizzically while the girl only stared back. They both understood.

"Say, mind pointing that thing away from us?" Beastboy asked the cop that had been the first to notice them: His gun still aimed at the Titans. "I think I've seen enough action for the day."

The cop blushed slightly and put his gun away.

"HEY!"

All the Titans instantly went into the defensive. But then they realized it was only the police lieutenant and relaxed.

"What did you… I mean, what was all… Did you…" The man sputtered. His eyes fell on the blonde girl. "Good lord, is she…?"

"Unconscious." Robin said, dismissing any implies of her murder. "She'll be ok. But please take her to a hospital. If you don't mind. We just want to rest."

"But…" Lieutenant LaMarr started, seeing their tired expressions. "What happened here?"

Before his eyes, every Titan but the mechanical-hybrid grimaced.

"We… We couldn't save the day." Robin said, before getting up and walking towards the T-car. "Let's go home, guys."

Soon after, all the other members followed him. Metatron's body floated behind them, encased in black energy.

Upon the light of the sunset over the sea, the scene looked melancholic… Sad…

Broken.

**TO BE FINISHED…**

* * *

_So ends chapter eight._

_Heh. I bet most of you thought I gave Metatron that considerable amount of power just out of a Mary Sue whim, huh? Well, no such luck._

_'Children of a Lesser God' ends on Monday OR Thursday (depends on the amount of work I get on Monday). With its Epilogue. See you then._


	9. Epilogue: Life Goes On

**Epilogue: Life Goes On.**

The evening was calm, light dark as the sun had just finished setting. It was the kind of cool atmosphere that tended to make any man drowsy. The feeling did not make an exception for Robin as the teen watched the young woman and her small team work.

These places are always so depressing, Robin thought. But even so, he had felt the distinct knowledge that he had to be here. To watch. To be sure.

To be reminded of his mistake.

He felt no sadness. He felt no grief. He just felt… Empty.

_ADAM ALEXANDER MATTHEWS  
1982-2001  
An errant soul, that now has peace_

_AURA MATTHEWS  
1990-2001  
Beloved sister, innocent girl,  
sleeps before her time_

Robin let out a sigh at the two graves among the thousands on the Jump City Cemetery. The first true failure of their team. It had cost them two lives. Innocent or otherwise tainted. Tainted in a way that could have been redeemed, changed… Maybe even made into a fighter for the side of the angels.

But no more. There's no cheating for death, and Robin knew that.

Two week had passed since the events that lead to Metatron's and his sister's death. Robin remembered all the ordeals he and his team had had to endure even after the immediate threat had been… Dealt with: When they arrived at the Tower, the first thing they all spotted was Aura Matthew's sister. Her small frame had been covered with a blanket by Cyborg, who wanted to give her some dignity. But Robin had still needed to check as he lifted the blanket.

Starfire finally had too much when they saw her as she broke into tears immediately. The small girl looked peaceful, as if calmly sleeping; Cyborg had also changed the expression of her face from the silent scream it had when she died. The only thing that truly told Robin the girl was dead at first sight was the red-tint her entire body had, same color as Metatron's. Another life to add to the list, he had thought bitterly. And a young one at that.

It wasn't over however: Shortly after they had finally relaxed themselves from the events they went through, Mr. Stefan Reynolds stormed to their com-link, yelling and spitting for nearly half an hour about how his sweet little daughter had been severely and traumatically hurt, and how it was all their fault.

In the end, Raven slapped him with a telepathic attack and then broke the connection before he could say another word. They weren't exactly in the mood to take any bullshit at the time: His daughter was alive and would recover, if he had a problem, he could frankly shove it up his ass for all they cared.

But these actions triggered yet another problem, albeit, an expected one: The media. The bastards had made the Titan's response to Reynolds an act of treason and betrayal, starting bad mouthing the young heroes as if their very lives depended on it. A couple had even spread the rumor that Metatron had been some sort of misunderstood child who was brutally murdered by the Titans themselves when he got in their way.

As fucking if.

Nevertheless, while most of the public didn't buy into it, a great part did; causing riots of citizens yelling and demanding for the Titans arrest. It calmed down somewhat when the heroes came down on them and told them to shut the hell up, at the same time giving numerous evidence of the truth that had happened on that place. However, it was only toned down, it was not going to stay quiet forever.

Robin knew that, but he also knew that that wouldn't happen until his team screwed up again. Of course… The screw-up might not be as far as he thought it would be. You never knew.

He could only hope.

As the young female undertaker finally finished her job and started giving request to her co-workers, Robin looked around the place. Aside from him and the group of undertakers, not a single soul was here to see the burial. It had been expected, seeing as even though Titans tried to find someone over the past week, he already knew that all known relatives were dead; but something about seeing it made it all the more depressing. He supposed it couldn't be helped: After all, he did kill his parents.

…Right?

There had been a strange look on his face when he had been accused of the murder. Surprise… Surprised that Robin knew? Or surprise that Robin thought he had done it?

It was another question that would probably never be answered.

His team hadn't come either: They were already forgetting and trying to get on with their lives. Hell, they didn't even know he was here.

It was probably better like this. They'd probably think he was obsessing over this as he tended to do with other things. Maybe he was. Maybe he was obsessing with their first failure as much as he obsessed with Slade.

Slade…

The last problem this whole ordeal had brought him. Where was he? What was he doing? Did he still hold all the cards? Had this whole event actually harmed him in the least?

More questions remaining unanswered. Mainly because the girl was now walking towards him. Robin straightened himself up when she got to him.

"We are… Uh… Done…" She said shyly. Robin doubted she was star-struck so it was probably just her nature.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He replied, handing over a check for the sum of her work. The girl was a chubby complexion, making her look… Well, 'huggable' is actually an accurate term for her, she had brown eyes and hair, which went down for her shoulders and despite what most would think, she was actually quite attractive, even thought she wore a strange modified gray business suit with purple gloves and a tie, covered by a long, black jacket.

"Were they friends of yours?" The girl asked, blushing slightly. Very shy, Robin noticed.

"Not exactly friends." Robin answered honestly. "… But not enemies either. Rivals. Adversaries. I think that's all." He didn't know why he was telling a complete stranger this. It just felt like she… She could be trusted. Like she just wanted to give help.

"I don't believe what the newspapers say about you guys." The girl suddenly blurted out.

Robin blinked a couple of times at the sudden outburst. Then, when he came to the conclusion she was being truthful, he smiled.

"I'm very happy to hear that, Miss…?"

The girl smiled before answering.

"Matthews." She said. "Sophie Matthews."

Robin arched an eyebrow at the name.

"Matthews?" He asked. "Are you…?"

"Oh, no." Sophie answered quickly, knowing what he wanted to ask. "We weren't related at all, tough I wondered about that at first too. We don't have any relatives named Aura on my family, and since they were siblings… And everyone on my family is human too."

His heart sank a bit, Robin nodded in response. Well, it is a common name.

He finally noticed the group of co-workers waiting some distance away.

"Well, Sophie…" He commented. "Thank you very much for your help. I hope we meet again, in different conditions."

The girl smiled and nodded before walking away. Soon she and her friends were gone, leaving to Teen Wonder behind with his thoughts… And two newly added graves.

Minutes passed, and Robin just stood there thinking. It's not really known how long he stood there, but after a longwhile he finally turned around and walked away.

"Rest in peace."

* * *

Many miles away, Slade Wilson sat on his throne, blissfully staring into space. Thinking. Planning. 

He analyzed all the flaws on his second attempt and compared them to the first one. He was not pleased to realize the first one had gone a lot better. He would need to try a similar approach next time. He needed a new candidate as well. There were so many to choose.

Like the Japanese young man, master (in a manner of speaking) of _bachi__ no kami._

Or maybe the young blonde geokinetic. She has proven to have promising destructive power at times.

So many to choose from. So much potential that could be used… Or wasted.

Well, no matter. Even if he fails again, he'll still try. After all, he still needed an heir.

And above all, He had time.

* * *

Robin had made his way back home and found two of his friends in front of the TV playing videogames. Starfire, he could see, was on the kitchen, attempting her awkward cooking again. And a couple of minutes before entering the tower, he had received a message from Raven, informing him that she had gone out for a while and would be back soon. 

He had been right: His friends were already putting the past events behind them and getting on with their lives.

He probably should to.

"I call winner." He said as greetings. His teammates simply smiled. Before long, Cyborg had won the game against Beastboy.

Not surprising. It was also unsurprising when the metal teen challenged him.

It was even less surprising when Robin easily started winning.

"You know, being part robot, I thought you would be, you know, in kin with your fellow kind or something…" He said, his masked face a picture in concentration as he ran Cyborg's latest challenge into the ground.

"Shaddup!" Cyborg snapped, as he tried to get back in the lead. A rear-dropped bomb weapon from Robin's car pretty much smashed any hope he had of that.

Beastboy, in the form of a bat, hung from the ceiling, watching with great amusement. He always liked it when Cyborg lost: his reactions were priceless and since he usually lost to the black teen, he rarely saw them.

And Robin won the game again. He was about to say something in return when something on his belt beeped and he stopped, withdrawing a com link.

"Sorry Victor, Batman's calling. We'll have to pick this up later." Robin said, as he vaulted off the couch and ran out the door.

He smiled as he heard Cyborg's protest and annoyance even as Beastboy made a comment about 'Robin being ragged' he could not quite get due to the distance. He'll probably have a word with Beastboy about it later. He took out his black communicator.

"Robin."

"I need your assistance." Batman's dry voice said. "Come."

The signal went dead with that.

Robin blinked a couple of times and just shrugged it off, knowing that this was expected from his mentor, who had the manners of a killer white shark. He headed down to the garage without a word to his friends: It probably wouldn't take long anyway.

Soon, Robin strolled out to his motorcycle and got it started, his cape billowing in the wind as he took off. He wondered what Bruce needed him for.

He sure hoped it wasn't to continue their talk about Metatron. He had had enough silent 'I told you so's and small anger the last time Batman had talk to him about it, the very next day after the incident happened.

With these thoughts in mind, Robin didn't see the white figure remove himself from the position he had been on the T-Tower and throw out what appeared to be a white rope, swinging after Robin as he drove.

He continued to follow unnoticed in the same manner, in which Spider-man would have had full grounds to fill a lawsuit against.

* * *

Time passed. And hour and ten minutes to be exact. Robin had finally taken care of the problem at Gotham (a couple of carjackers), but that had arisen another problem: Robin and Batman had taken care of them. But not alone. 

The teen in white who now stood in front of him had helped. A young Metahuman, probably recently 'gifted' by the looks of it, who had followed him out of the strange desire he had had of shaking Batman's hand.

Robin's mentor was long gone, and the kid in front of him was ready to do the same. But…

"Hey wait." Robin said. If Bruce, who was possibly the harshest judge in the WORLD when it came to costumed heroes, thought this guy had potential. "How old are you?"

"17."

"Well then…you wanna come back to the Tower?"

"Your Tower? You mean you'd…?" Whiteman said, his extreme fanboyish attitude he had displayed with Batman coming back a tad.

"Heck, I won't make any PROMISES…" Robin said in a teasing tone. "But at the least we could always use a new sucker, I mean RECRUIT!"

I mean… It's better to have you with us than to one day cross paths as enemies, right? Robin thought, Metatron's history in mind. To have to fight you… When you can do so much more on the right side… Right?

"………….Ok then. Sure, I'll come." The teen in white said, after having given it some thought.

"Ok look look, before anything, we have to get properly introduced. I, as you already know, am Robin. Who are you?"

The teen in white chuckled.

"What's in a name? That which we…"

"Can the Shakespeare or I'll leave you here and on top of that I'll drive over your foot." Robin said, smiling: Time to get on with my life as well.

"Sorry."

The teen in white offered Robin his hand.

_Every beginning has an end…_

"I'm Savior."

_But for every end, there's a new beginning._

"Kinda pretentious, don't you think?"

"ARGH!"

You knew I had to add that.

**June 6th 2005–October**** 20th 2005**

**THE END.**

* * *

_Ok, first things first._

_Disclaimer: Savior is the property of the author Legend Maker and so is part of today's ending parts of the chapter, seeing as it was taken right out of the first chapter of 'Black and White' (the fic where Savior's legacy begins)._

_Ok with that out of the way, it's time for the Author's fic after-thought. You might wanna walk away._

_Well, there you have it. My first true attempt at a good fic. It's not exactly as incredibly talented as I hoped, but it was good nonetheless. Compared to the others… Heh, it's a masterpiece._

_This fic went through a lot before actually getting to its current (and hopefully permanent) state. Two years ago, when I first became a member of it started under the name 'Slade's New Apprentice'. And it was as original as the name would suggest._

_It was a self-insertion Gary Stu-fest where Metatron (who back then was called Zion and whose physical appearance had a striking resemblance to mine) was ridiculously superpowerful to such extremes than he could have not only taken on Slade, but also the Titans, the Hive and the whole damn Justice League without breaking a sweat. Yeah, it was that bad. The plot wasn't that original either._

_I abandoned the project after chapter two. Not because I thought it was crap, just 'cause I lost interest. I wasn't very committed to anything I did._

_Then I took it up again. The plot was somewhat better, Metatron (or __Zion__ at the time) no longer looked or acted like me. Yet he was still insanely powerful._

_I got to chapter six, this time, I DID knew it was crap. Humor fics are my forte, and I was, probably still am, very rough when it came to fics that were actually serious. I pretty much noticed that after comparing my work with Legend Maker's._

_So then, around May, I tried again. This time everything was different: The plot, the ending, the hints, even the name._

_And this is what you got._

_And I'm rather satisfied with the results. It could have been better, but it could have been worse too._

_In any case…__ I dedicate my first actually decent non-humor work to Chrissie "Legend Maker" Brynn, Ben "Bobcat" Hanson and Andrew "Jedi-And" Irvin; because hey, without their work to inspire and 'tutor' me, I would have never got to the level it took to write this._

_Thanks guys, I did all I could do to expand my writing talents and see if I could measure up to yours… And I failed. But I still tried, and I can't say it wasn't fun._

_And to the rest of you, thanks for putting up with this incredibly dull ending note, thanks for reading, and good-night!_

_Sincerely,_

_John "Prisionero" Guzman._

_P.S. Look for the sequel, if I make one._


End file.
